Robin Begins
by BlackDemon0
Summary: The beginning of the Boy Wonder, including the potential break down of the Justice League.
1. The Last Flying Greyson

**This was an idea I had a few months ago, a detailed story as to how exactly the idea of Robin was introduced to both Batman and the Justice League. This is just part 1, please let me know if you want to see it continue. I'm debating whether I should go with it or not, please review and let me know what you think.**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own the D.C. universe, D.C. comics or characters. (Including the Justice League)**

Part 1: Scene 1

The 9 year old boy sits at the end of the large, dark wood oval table with his arms crossed. A frown on his face in attempt to keep tears from leaping from his eyes. His messy black hair almost covers his blue sapphire eyes as he refuses to look up. It's nearing the early evening as he listens faintly and tries not to think about them, what he no longer has. Words mumbled across the table involving the boy's situation, though it seems to have nothing to do with him.

"Greyson, Richard John" he read his name written in bold letters at the top of a paper, held by a skinny pale man in a black suit. Everything about him was written on that paper, his entire life, and it was waved around by the pale man while he shouted, as if it meant nothing. The pale man slid another paper across the table, the boy read it before the other man picked it up.

"New Jersey State Home for Boys." It said. The other man frowned as the pale social worker spoke, "The boy needs a more permanent home. You offered to care for him until we found a solution, Mr. Wayne, we found a solution. The reports state that…."

'His name is Bruce' the boy thought, 'Bruce Wayne'.

Bruce slammed the paper back on the table with anger, interrupting the pale man, "I don't care what the reports say!" the boy flinched and looked up at the pale man, his name tag shimmered in the light through the window, "Dr. J. Harrison" it read. The boy immediately drove his eyes back down as Bruce continued to speak with frustration in his voice, "The New Jersey State Home for Boys is not a solution, or a permanent home!" he stated.

'New Jersey…' the boy thought to himself, 'I remember the tour two years ago, that was the second to last stop…' he reinforced his efforts to hold back tears as he thought of New Jersey, 'I can't live there…' his thoughts interrupted by Bruce's words of almost desperation.

"You have to give me time to find another solution. Richard Greyson is currently under my care, I won't send him to Jersey!" he slid the paper back across the table to Dr. Harrison as he continued, "two weeks… that's all I ask." His voice calmed gently near the end.

The doctor scrambled the papers back into his brief case as he continued with a snide tone, "Then what, Mr. Wayne? The boy needs stability…"

"I know that!" interrupted Bruce, "it's only been a week since… since the accident…" his voice lowered, "he lost everything he has ever known his whole life in the past few days, recovery from that takes more than stability." He stated from experience.

'Accident!' the boy thought in rage, 'just an ACCIDENT!'

Dr. Harrison glanced at the boy, sitting with his arms now folded, then nodded at Mr. Wayne. He slid another paper across the table, it had no title. The pale man spoke, "very well then, two weeks. But it may be time to consider other options Mr. Wayne…"

Dr. Harrison stood and shook Bruce's hand, after their hands parted Bruce spoke, "Thank you…" he looked back down at the paper as he stood.

"Pleasure doing business with you Mr. Wayne." Dr. Harrison stated as he pulled his coat back over his shoulders.

"Alfred, would you show Dr. Harrison out please?" Bruce asked.

"Yes master Wayne… this way Dr. Harrison." The humble butler held his hand in the direction away from the table. The doctor followed Alfred to the door, the boy waited until he heard the door close.

The boy listened to Bruce breathe for a second before he stood. His chair fell backwards into the wood floor, leaving a loud bang to echo through the mansion over his words, "An Accident!? You know this wasn't an accident! You said people don't die like that on accident! Someone killed them! On purpose!" he shouted.

Bruce reached his hand toward the boy's shoulder, "Richard…" he said calmly.

The boy pushed his hand away and started for the doorway, "don't call me that!" the boy stormed for the door in rage, "only my parents called me that!" he shouted, passing Alfred on his way out the door, it slammed as Bruce spoke.

"Richard! Dick, Come back!" Bruce followed him out, reaching for the door he was stopped by Alfred.

"Master Bruce…" he stopped to look at the butler as he continued, "given the circumstances, perhaps it's time to consider Dr. Harrison's suggestion…"

Bruce sighed as he closed his eyes, he opened the door and scanned the scene for the boy. He was nowhere in sight, Alfred followed Bruce to the front porch where he had stopped, "I can't take care of him Al… I can't."

Alfred nodded his head in argument, "yes you can, and you will." Bruce looked back out at the scenery to find the boy as Alfred continued, "The boy's family was caught in a crossfire between you and Harvey, the boy has nothing left because of the Batman's choices. Along with the fact that he already knows who you are, you would appear to have no other choice."

Bruce turned to argue, but Alfred spoke first, "besides, you might find you have more in common with young Richard than anticipated. Who knows, you might even form an attachment with the boy." Alfred said as he turned to enter the manor.

"Alfred…" Bruce attempted to form a counter argument, "you know I don't form attachments…"

Alfred continued as he had already won the argument, "two weeks master Wayne… you might want to find the boy, we can't help him if he isn't here."

"There's a tracker on his collar… how are you able to talk me into these things?" Bruce asked.

Alfred simply smiled, "it's a gift."

The young acrobat had managed to travel all the way to the edge of the city, he leaped from building side to rooftop, to building side constantly while attempting to hold back tears of rage. He focused dangerously hard on his technique, bounding across the street, stories above the ground. 'Point your toes, straiten your left leg, and concentrate on your core.' He thought. Those were all things his family used to tell him, suddenly he hears their voices in his head.

Tears cloud his vision as he pushes to continue leaping, he remembers their faces, and what they looked like before they died. The memory invades his thoughts and replays on a constant loop, he hears their screams getting louder and louder, until finally, he can't go any further.

He lands firmly on the roof of a 20 story building, his fists tightened, his teeth grinding together, he tries to move his feet as they remain planted in the concrete. It's nearing sunset as he lets it out, his screams echo through the buildings like thunder. He finally stops pretending to be strong, he melts to the ground and pulls his knees to his chest, rubbing his arms. His cheeks as well as his shirt have been stained with tears, whimpering loudly in hurt.

He lifts his head and cries to the sky, "why did you leave me!?" Minutes pass as only his cries are allowed to echo through the streets, as if there was nothing else in the world, "I want to go with you! Let me come with you!" he screams.

The voice of the dark knight rose from behind the small boy, "Richard…"

Startled, Dick turned and stood, trying to hide his tears, "what are you doing here…?" he hiccupped.

Bruce kept a steady voice as he spoke, "I have to take you home now, you can't stay on this rooftop forever."

Dick turned around and folded his arms, "then take me back to Haley's Circus! That's my home!"

"Dick…" he moved closer and put his hand on the boy's shoulder, "you know I can't do that."

Dick became angry and pushed away from Bruce's hand, "I want to go back to the circus! Haley will take me back!" he yelled.

"Dick, Haley's Circus is halfway to Fresno by now…" Bruce stated, keeping his voice calm.

"I don't care! I have to go back, take me back!" he yelled.

"There's nothing for me to take you back to…" he regretted the words as soon as they rolled out of his mouth.

Outraged, the boy busted out words that didn't even seem to belong to him, "Yes there is! I'm still a Flying Greyson!" The black haired boy turned to face the dark knight and began throwing punches, left and right, screaming, "They left me here! Why did they leave?! I want to go with them! It should have been you! You took them away! I hate you!"

The words reminded Bruce of the time his parents were taken from this world, all that pain, rage, and anger. The boy's knuckles grew cold and hard, although the punches grew softer, the boy's pain didn't grow any less dreadful to either of them.

"The circus is my home! The circus is everything! I want to go back! I want to go back!" He shouted. Finally, Bruce found himself holding the boy in his arms as Dick held on to him tightly, whimpering, "I want to go back to them… I want them to come back…" Bruce ran his fingers through the boy's coal black hair as he cried, "But they left me… why did they leave me…"

Bruce comforted the small boy as he cried, refusing to let go of the dark knight, "I'm here… and I'm not going anywhere."

Part 1: Scene 2

The sun rose with a poise the following morning, the boy sat silently at the table gazing out the window at the sky. He watched the birds fly away in the distance, he flinched as a small bird landed on the outside seal. He watched it peck at the wood in curiosity, he heard Alfred come into the kitchen to start breakfast.

"Good morning Richard, up again so early I see. Have you been sleeping any better?" Alfred asked, pulling out a plate and tray.

"A little, I guess… they still come to me at night, I still see them everywhere. It still hurts…" the boy replied as he lowered his head.

"Well now, I can't say that one day it will stop hurting… but with time, it will be easier to dry your tears faster." Alfred stated as he cut a loaf of bread into slices and placed them inside a toaster oven. The boy looked at him with a puzzled face as Alfred smiled and went on, "and that someday you will understand what I'm telling you."

Dick nodded and pretended to understand, he turned his attention back at the window. He spoke softly, still with puffy eyes, "hey Alfred, there's a bird in the window…" he pointed at the autumn stained glass.

Alfred looked up and smiled, "ah yes…" he said with a joy in his eyes as he prepared coffee, "I don't believe you know about the robins yet."

The boy's face struck confusion as he spoke, "robins?"

"Yes" Alfred stated, "Would you like to know about them?"

Dick nodded, turning his body toward Alfred propping his arms on the table holding up his head, eager to listen as Alfred continued, "As you may already know, this manor has sheltered the Wayne family for many generations. Which means, that window has been there for just as long. We call that the robin window. You see, every morning, weather winter or spring, a robin would sooner or later make its way to that window… in the Wayne family, the robin is a symbol of a better outcome, freedom, and hope."

Alfred continued as the boy looked back at the robin in the window, "It was known for many generations that if a robin had crossed your path on any given day, the best would be yet to come."

The boy laughed under his breath, Alfred stopped as his chuckles broke the butler's concentration on his story, "ha-ha… robins." The boy said.

"Forgive me for not understanding the humor sir, why laugh at a robin?" Alfred asked, pausing his chore.

The boy looked up at Alfred, now devoting his undivided attention to what the boy had to say next. The boy's eyes grew misty as he spoke with a lowered tone, "my mom used to call me little robin… I was born on the first day of spring, and she always used to say I reminded her of one, when I was up on the trapeze…" a tear rolled down his cheek as Alfred noticed him quickly wipe it away.

Alfred saw something in the boy that morning, something awfully close to the young lad known as Bruce at his age. "Ah." He said as he nodded in understanding. He continued to give the boy something to think about, "Coincidence, perhaps… You can only imagine what the window did for Master Bruce in his younger years…" he stated, pulling the toast out of the toaster oven and placing it neatly on two plates.

The boy suddenly turned to face Alfred, "Bruce?" he asked.

"Why yes…" Alfred continued, pouring the coffee into a cup and placing it on the tray, along with one plate of toast, "like you, young Bruce lost somethings incredibly dear to him at an age not far from yours. He sat by that window almost every morning for years after his loss."

A pause of silence and deep thought urged the boy to ask, "In what way, like me?"

Before Alfred gave enough time to reply to the question, he dodged an answer and continued his routine, "speaking of master Bruce, I've got to take him his breakfast…" he winked at the boy as he set a plate of toast in front of the small child, and proceeded to carry the tray down the stairs.

Alfred held the tray cautiously as he entered the bat cave, he found Bruce at the computer, studying the monitor carefully. A series of newspaper articles were visible on the screen, along with maps containing pin-pointed locations. Alfred could read most of the headlines, involving 'acrobatic family murdered' , 'acid laced wires' , 'young acrobat under the care of multi-billion dollar company owner, Bruce Wayne'.

Upon this, Alfred knew exactly what he was doing, "it would appear the killer went into hiding." He stated, "His current status is the same as that which you concluded on, last week."

Bruce was startled at first, not expecting the humble butler's voice "Al, what are you still doing up?" Bruce said with sarcasm in his words.

"It is 7:30 sir, when you weren't in your room I figured you'd enjoy breakfast in the cave this morning." Bruce released the large screen from his eyes long enough to take a sip of the black coffee. Alfred became concerned at the sight of the bags under Bruce's eyes, "My goodness! Have you been up all night? Working on this?"

Bruce set the empty cup back on the tray, "Mmm… that was excellent AL. New coffee brand?"

Alfred became somewhat frustrated with Bruce's sarcasm, "don't change the subject… when I said, improved conditions, staying up all night to blame yourself for the murder of the boy's family, was not my intent."

"I have been after Harvey for almost a year now, the boy's family was caught in a crossfire between him and Batman. Now, I have an innocent 9 year old boy upstairs that has been to Hell and back because of me!" his voice showed frustration and anger, much like the previous evening at the table, "I have to catch the bastard that did this…"

Alfred replied with a calm, convincing tone, "the boy's loss is not your fault…there's nothing more you could have done then what you are doing now."

"And what's that Alfred?" he stated with disbelief.

"Giving the boy a home…" Alfred explained.

Bruce opened his mouth to argue, but was interrupted by an incoming call from the watchtower. He turned back to the keyboard and pressed a blinking butting on the dashboard that opened a window on the large monitor.

To Bruce's surprise, Green Arrow's face appeared on the screen, "Oliver? What's wrong?"

He replied with puzzled tone as the connection struggled to remain online, Green Arrow's words went in and out in between white noise, "Bruce… hostage situation in Gotham city… your… clown friend in the purple… students captive… Gotham City High School."

Bruce's voice deepens, "Joker… why are you spacing in and out?"

Green Arrow continues as if he'd never heard Bruce's question, "do y… know what he wants…?"

Bruce replied with sarcasm, "with High School students: no idea… on my way."

Alfred attempts to interfere, "sir, I don't believe it to be wise to engage in this right now."

Bruce closes the face call window and reaches for his uniform, "not now Al…"

Alfred continues to speak with a worried voice, "now, you haven't got any sleep in over 24 hours, I don't think…"

Bruce interrupted bluntly, "I can survive one night without sleep, Al. I'll be f…"

Alfred interrupted desperately as Bruce stopped in his track at the sound of those words, "with all due respect sir, there is a 9 year old boy upstairs who is wondering where you are."

Bruce continued to get into the bat mobile with almost, a guilt upon his shoulders, "I'll be back soon Al, I can't let anyone else get hurt."

Alfred took a deep breath as the bat mobile's tires screeched upon zooming away. He carried the tray with the toast and empty cup back up the stairs and found little Dick at the table with his toast.

Still chewing, the boy turned and asked, "Where's Bruce?"

Alfred smiled as he found humor in the boy, "Now, chew your food thoroughly before speaking." He suggested, "Master Bruce will return in time."

Dick swallowed his mouthful and asked again, "But, _where_ is he?"

Alfred improvised with a smile, "When he gets here, you can ask him." The boy slouched and took a breath of frustration as Alfred continued, "Now, finish up your toast. And what do you say you and I go into town, and get you some new cloths."

Dick took another bite of his toast with a disappointed look on his face, "Ok…" he said still chewing, as Alfred tried to hold back a smile.

Part 1: Scene 3

Batman arrived on the scene in shadows, just in time to overhear a report from Commissioner Gordon. There was already a perimeter of police cars surrounding the entire high school grounds, no contact has been made between anyone inside and anyone outside the silent high school.

Gordon walked across the street to a dumpster to throw his coffee away, he stopped to look at his watch as the words of the dark knight arose from behind, "how many inside?"

"Jesus!" he took a breath and continued, "There's 400 that we know of."

"It's Saturday, what are 400 students doing here?" Batman kept his voice low as he spoke.

"Workshop… Writer's fair." Gordon answered, looking back at the high school.

"What does he want with high school writers?" Batman asked.

"We don't know, we haven't made contact yet. But we…" he turned to find nothing behind him, Batman had gotten the information he needed to proceed.

Unseen, Batman crept his way through the shadows and entered the building from a side window. He navigated himself around the building, locating Joker with his heat sensitive vision. He stayed above the floor, mostly hidden above the ceiling covers, traveling silently through the building.

He kept his eyes narrow as he traveled from an air shaft leading to an empty room, he heard Joker's voice. "Any minute now…" he said out loud.

He was surrounded by henchmen all wearing the same mask, one of them spoke with concern, "how do you know?" he asked.

Joker turned to face the man, he walked up behind him and pulled out a hand gun, "Because…" he said slowly, raising the gun to the back of the man's head, "I know, the Batman."

A quiet bang was released into the echo of the halls, the silencer was almost in use, the loud crash of the body landing lifeless on the floor wasn't helpful either. Blood leaked all over the floor as Joker stood over the corps, "now look what you did…" he bent over in disappointment at the sight of the blood, "that's not going to come out of the floor easy."

Clink.

"Hey boss, you hear something?" another henchman said from across the room.

The lights burn out, nothing but darkness clouds the room.

Joker stood from the body and moved to the center of the room, growing an evil grin he spoke with enthusiasm, "he's here… all of you, phase 2. GO!" he shouted

All the men exited the room, leaving Joker alone in the empty darkness. He chuckles as he speaks, "come out come out, wherever you are…" he shifted his attention from one direction to the next as he spoke, "oh do come out… it's been far too long."

He turned around quickly and found Batman inches away from him, he backed away as soon as he saw the dark knight. Startled, he continued, "there you are…" he raised his hand gun.

Batman knocked the gun from his hands, disarmed both his knives, and struck Joker's nose with and upward motion from his lower palm. Causing him to remain temporarily dizzy, he stumbled backwards and slowly regained control of his footing, "now that wasn't nice…" he claimed, wiping blood from his lip.

"What do you want Joker?" Batman demanded.

The henchmen came around the corner into the dark room quickly, dispersing to the sides of the room. The dark knight kept track of every one of them as they slowly surrounded the area. Then they brought a guest: a girl.

Blond hair, blue sweater, black pants, barefoot, gaged, arms tied behind her back, she was dragged into the room by her hair. The dark knight glanced at the girl on her knees, she was obviously drugged. He turned back to the Joker and grinded his teeth at the sound of his voice.

"A talk is all…" Batman started at the Joker, picking him up by his collar. He held up two fingers signally the man holding the blond girl, placing a blade at her neck. Batman saw the pattern, and backed away cautiously as he spoke.

"Let the girl go…" he demanded.

Joker shook his head as he grinned, "That won't do… You see, this here… is Lucy Carlson. Say hello Lucy!" he shouted.

"What importance is she to you?" Batman interrupted.

"Always in such a rush lately…" Joker continues off subject, "I remember the good ol' days, all our little talks." The dark knight keeps his eyes narrow as he watches the Joker slowly make his way around Batman, "speaking of which, why didn't you ever call me back? Is it because I'm too intimidating? Or are you seeing someone else?"

"What does the girl have to do with this?" Batman insisted.

Joker stopped in front of the girl, "Ok. Ok." He turned and knelt down beside the girl, facing Batman he held the girl's head up with his hand on her chin. She cried as he continued, "Meet, president of the writing club by day, and by night: she is full time anonymous blogger and news tracker, AKA, biggest fan of, the batman." He lets her head fall as he stands, "I want to know, why people are starting to view you as such a noble and heroic figure, when… you're no different from me."

"I'm nothing like you." Batman interrupts.

"Oh but you are… in every opposite way." He continued as he picked up the hand gun and waved it around, "You see, I could shoot this girl in the head, and not think of it ever again in my life. You on the other hand, would probably risk your life to save the useless little fan girl." He rose the gun to the girl's head.

"How does that make sense?" a henchman asked from the side.

Without hesitation, Joker pointed the gun at the henchman and shoot him, in between the eyes. He fell to the ground, his lifeless body poured blood on the floor as the girl screamed. Joker continued with frustration, "like that…" he said, gesturing the corps.

Outside, Commissioner Gordon held up his radio and spoke with fear, "alright that's the second gunshot, we're going in! Units 2-7 enter front, 1 and 8 from the rear! Let's move it people!"

Joker chuckles as he continues, "Just like, you will escape here today making sure that every last hostage is alive and accounted for. Whereas, I will escape, but I won't care about who gets left behind."

Batman hears the footsteps of the SWAT team coming down the hall as he stalls Joker, "Not even your men…" he stated, "let me get this straight, you think we are the same because we are exactly opposite…" he slowly reached behind him and pulled out a small trigger.

"No, we are like, the perfect pair. Anywhere I go, you go. Anywhere you go, I go… we can predict each other's every move, and…"

"Really?" Batman interrupted, "what's my next move, Joker?" he asked sarcastically.

Joker took a second to think and opened his mouth, but Batman continued, "Time's up… I already made my move. An EMP temporarily disarmed your weapons, police are 45 seconds away, and sleeping gas has already started seeping through the ceiling."

Joker and his men looked at the ceiling, when they looked back at the middle of the room, Batman was gone. Joker threw the gun at the floor, "oh, come on now… must you leave so soon?" he asked out loud, searching for any sign of the Batman.

He continued to speak into the darkness with sarcasm, "you just got here… and we haven't even started with the…" he was interrupted by a clink from behind, he turned and found a bat shaped boomerang with a blinking light stuck in the floor. It blinked three times before Joker's eyes widened, boom!

Joker, the girl, the men, all swallowed by the smoke cloud. Unconscious bodies dropped left and right, all the men in the masks hit the ground with a thud. Above the cloud, Batman held the unconscious girl firmly by the shoulders as he scanned through the cloud. The henchmen were asleep, Joker was nowhere in sight.

SWAT was moments away from the doorway, they turned the corner entering the smoke filled room. With gas masks, they found and cuffed 17 masked men, found two of them dead. Batman untied the girl and set her gently outside the doorway of the smoke-filled room. He waited for a member of the SWAT team to find her before disappearing into the shadows again.

The dark knight watched from a nearby building side in the shadows as the girl was carried to an ambulance. The 400 students that were being held in the gym fled through the doors with Police officers, he made sure the masked men each got their own free ride to the station.

He saw Commissioner Gordon walk silently back to the dumpster, he waited there for several minutes before he turned around again. The sight of the dark knight shocked Gordon out of his words. He took another breath before he spoke, "You know… one of these days you're going to give someone a heart attack…" he claimed.

"Too late." Batman replied, continuing with information on the attack, "Joker was behind the attack, I don't think these men followed him under their free will. Drugged maybe, the girl was drugged as well, she'll need therapy; mental and physical."

"I'll make sure she gets it. What did he want?" asked Gordon as he turned to look at the high school.

"Fan club." Batman replied with disgust.

"so I guess he just wanted an excuse to see y…" he turned back around to find he was talking to an empty alley way, Gordon took a deep breath of frustration, "one day…" he said to himself, "heart attack." He said sarcastically.

Part 1: Scene 4

Alfred holds the hand of young Dick as they walk down the sidewalk of a busy street, funneling themselves through the moving crowds. Young Dick held Al's hand tightly, until just beyond the crowd, Dick saw something.

There was a man in a tall dark cote in the shadows, a hat covered most of his face. He held something in his pocket, and a dark look in his eye. He held his hand over her mouth, pushing her against the wall. Dick saw her struggle to get free through the continuously shifting faces.

He spotted a candy store just off the ally way, a gumball machine in the display window. He let go of the butlers hand and darted away, disappearing into the crowd, "Mr. Greyson!?... Richard?!" Alfred called out in surprise and worry, dropping the clothing bags.

The young boy reappeared on the other side of the current, he swung a rock at the glass, the sound of the shattering glass scared most of the crowd to move faster. With panic amongst the people, he swiped a handful of gumballs and dashed around the corner. The sight of the tall man shocked him, his voice just made him angry, "get lost kid."

Dick threw the gumballs at the man's feet, and kicked the back of his knees, causing him to loose balance, slip, and fall. His body hit the ground with a thud, but Dick didn't stay long enough to see him back at his feet. He grabbed the woman's hand and ran back into the sidewalk.

By now, the street was empty, he raced her back around the corner and yelled, "Run! Run now!" she left him alone as she disappeared into the distance. The man got to his feet and looked around the corner in disgust, "why you little…" he growled.

Pouncing toward the boy, Dick anticipated every move he made. The man was slow, and easy to avoid. Dick eventually ran the man into a street pole and tied his shoe laces together, sending him to the ground again with a loud thud.

The boy felt a sense of pride as the police sirens came flashing around the corner, he smirked a little at the sight of the man being cuffed and lowered into a police car. He suddenly remembered Alfred, where did Alfred go?

He turned to look but found a police officer instead, his caught the boy's small hands and pulled them behind his back. "Not so fast little guy." He said, cuffing his hands.

Dick found himself cuffed, in the back of a police car, pleading for innocents, "Wait! This is all just a big misunderstanding, you got the wrong guy!" he claimed.

"Shut up" said the driving officer, suddenly, the boy found himself riding in silence to the police station. He was walked up the front steps like a criminal, and cuffed to the bench near the receptionist's desk. He watched the door for Alfred, every time it opened, he had hoped to see Alfred's face. But as soon as he saw Alfred, he looked down and to the side.

Alfred said nothing. He only walked to the front desk in silence after glancing at the boy. He studied various papers and reports, he spoke to the nearby officer and glanced back at the boy. His words were mumbled, and unclear. The boy watched Alfred pull out his phone and dial Bruce, he heard only fragments of their conversation.

"Master Bruce…"

"Hello Alfred." He said from the other line.

"We have… police station… young Dick… legal documents proving… won't allow me to… legal temporary guardian… as soon as possible." Alfred's words gave the impression Bruce was angry, he watched as Alfred put his phone away and nodded at the officer, "I'll wait with him." He said.

Dick's heart rate grew faster as Alfred came and sat down next to the boy, finally he let words slip from his mouth before he could stop them, "is he mad at me…" the boy asked.

Alfred looked down at the boy as he improvised, "Master Bruce will arrive shortly, we can't leave until he signs off for full responsibility of vandalism." Alfred continued with curiosity, "Young Richard, what on earth possessed you to break into that poor man's candy shop?" he asked.

The boy thought for a second with confusion on his face, 'the gumballs' he thought. He opened his mouth to answer as Alfred continued, "if you wanted something sweet, I would have bought you something… there was never any need to steel." He stated.

"But I didn't steel candy!" he argued, "there was a man, he had a gun, he was going to hurt someone… I had to stop him, I didn't mean to…" he paused as he heard the door open. He turned and saw Bruce's face, but Bruce didn't look at the boy.

He walked in a straight line to the front desk, like Alfred, he studied various papers and reports, signing forms. He spent several minutes at the desk, it seemed as if he refused to look back at the boy. Dick counted numerous minutes before Bruce finally turned around, he walked with a gentle pace towards the boy, followed by an officer who fished a ring of keys from his pocket.

The officer kneeled down to unlock the cuffs as Bruce stayed standing, he made no eye contact with the boy as he spoke to the officer, "again, I'm really sorry for the trouble." He said.

The boy flinched at the sound of the cuffs flinging open, he stood slowly as the officer replied, "Oh, it's no problem." He stated.

Bruce shook the officer's hand firmly, "thank you." He said. The officer tipped his hat and walked away. Bruce changed his tone as he directed his attention to the boy, "let's go." He commanded, but without anger.

The ride home was piercing silent, only the engine was allowed to scream. Dick feared to let his eyes wonder anywhere but the floor, but he knew exactly where they were, and exactly how much time he had left. 'Tell him' he thought to himself, 'just say exactly what happened, I didn't do anything wrong.' He contemplated, 'wait; beg for forgiveness. He knows what happened, he already thinks I'm guilty.'

Dick argued with himself silently until the car came to a stop, the engine was silenced, only the sound of him breathing remained in the car. "Alfred, leave us." Bruce said with a calm voice, interrupting the silence.

"As you wish, Master Bruce." Alfred exited the vehicle quietly, the shut of the car door seemed so loud it gave the impression he was angry too, 'Maybe he was exaggerating… or maybe he was mad at me as well.' Dick thought to himself.

Dick watched Alfred walk silently up the steps of the manor, Bruce waited until Alfred was inside to start speaking. He could faintly hear the huge door to the manor close right before Bruce spoke, "Dick…"

He was interrupted by the boy's frazzled words, "I know you're mad at me! I can explain everything! It was a misunderstanding, they caught the wrong guy! There was a man in the alley way, he had a gun in his pocket, he was going to hurt someone, and I…" Bruce smiled as the boy attempted to plead his case.

"Dick, I never said I was angry with you. I read the reports." Confusion struck the boy's face as Bruce continued, "I know why you acted upon those circumstances, it was your course of action that got you in trouble."

Bruce opened the door and put one foot on the ground, "come with me." He said as he exited the car.

Dick thought for a second before opening the door, 'he's not mad?' he exited the car and ran to catch up to Bruce, who was halfway to the manor. They walked side by side through the manor doors, and down the hall. Passing Alfred, Bruce spoke, "I have an idea." Alfred winked at him as they passed.

Bruce opened a door, leading to a staircase. They walked down the dark staircase and the boy came to a stop before they reached the bottom, he could see it in dark, "is that…" he asked slowly.

"Yes." Bruce said. The boy's eyes filled with surprise as Bruce turned on the lights.

Dick couldn't hold back a smile as he spoke, "no way…"


	2. Second Thoughts

Part 2: Scene 1

The afternoon after the documents were signed was almost peaceful, to a sense. The young, black haired boy raced around the manor setting off smoke clouds and placing trip wires. Cartwheeling and flipping around the hallways, it had only been a week sense the training had started.

The boy raced past the butler leaving small spears that burst into smoke clouds, "might I persuade you into taking your activities outside, Master Richard?" Alfred suggested.

"Sure! No problem Al!" he yelled as he front flipped out the open window at the end of the hall, landing softly on the bunches of red and brown leaves that covered the dimming crass. Alfred smiled at the sight of the cheerful boy as he raced around the yard, the smile on Dick's face reminded him of Bruce… how the days of his smiles seemed like so long ago.

The agreement made secret between Bruce Wayne and Richard Greyson, was one between the Dark Knight and an unofficial apprentice. Although he would never admit it, Alfred was right: Bruce had grown an attachment with the boy over the next twelve or so weeks, as Dick became better known as Richard Greyson-Wayne.

Dick thought of himself as Batman's sidekick. He had no name, nor uniform, nor was he allowed in the field… he was however, resourceful, agile, and smart in most areas. But he was also young, too young in Bruce's eyes. None the less, Bruce believed it to be wise to exercise the boy's abilities. Seems as Dick thought of himself as a superhero (or rather one's sidekick), he thought it only necessary to accompany Batman on his missions. He calculated a window of opportunity for every mission, but it was closing.

The want to be included was used as a training technique for both Bruce and Dick, the more Dick wanted to come, the harder he would try. Growing stealthier and smarter, giving Bruce a blueprint as to how exactly the little boy's mind worked. Little did Bruce know; the escalating absence of the Batman on the street caused a burning jealousy in the Joker. Bruce Wayne found himself more involved with anything that had to do with the boy than anything even remotely concerning the Batman.

Aside from his various attempts to stand alongside the Dark Knight on his missions, the boy occupied himself with other talents. Bruce managed to enroll the boy in middle school, (4 grade levels above his average age) with a specialty for computer works. With a few short weeks of Bruce's help, Dick gained the ability to hack nearly anything. His ability was surprising, even to Bruce Wayne himself. All the more reason to teach the difference between right and wrong.

Not once had the boy succeeded on a mission to Stoll-away on the bat mobile, but still, he tried. Everything was progressing as planned until the night he figured it out. The young, ninja like child found the perfect time to attempt a hide out in the bat mobile: the night of the joker's game.

It had been nearly 4 months since the adoption, the white blanket had laid itself firmly over every surface. Bruce had often wondered if he had done the right thing, introducing the innocent child to his life, his life of crime and violence… his life as Batman.

And his life as Batman was requiring his attention, he had been tracking many previous crimes that left a trail leading back to the Joker. Knowing the boy was more important to him, he left the matter of the Joker to the police. Until the night of the fires.

Bruce stood in front of the monitor in the bat cave, attempting to study the satellite view of all the hit locations while already occupying his mind with other thoughts.

Alfred stood beside him as he watched the boy pounce around the cave without a care, the humble butler admired the boy's enthusiasm and imagination, leaping from the ledges on the walls of the cave as he laughed. Alfred noticed Bruce lower his head as he closed and rubbed his eyes.

"Everything alright Master Bruce?" Alfred asked.

Bruce picked up his head and looked at Alfred with frazzled eyes, "Alfred, there is a thought clouding my mind…" he said quietly.

"Involving the boy… I assume." Alfred interrupted.

Bruce showed shame in his words as he continued, "look at him…" he turned to face the boy, who was continuing to ware himself out, "look at what I've done to him…"

"How do you mean sir?" Alfred looked at the boy as he happily fantasized about catching the 'bad guys'.

"He's 9 years old, and…" Bruce went on as Alfred interrupted.

"Only a year older than you were when it happened…" Alfred pointed out.

"Yes, but that's not what I'm talking about…" Bruce continued, "I didn't take everything from him, but I'm preventing him from wanting it again… he doesn't want anything other than a costume and a cool name, he…"

"Master Bruce, have you ever thought that maybe it's healthy to be sidetracked at times like this?" Alfred added, "…to not be so depressed, you can't get yourself dressed in the morning?"

Bruce interrupted, "he should be allowed to mourn… Alfred, as I was. But me, being the batman, training him, showing him how easy it would seem to go after Harvey… is that really what he needs?"

"He is mourning…" Alfred said as Bruce interrupted.

"With revenge…" Bruce suggested, "He is mourning by setting a goal, of killing Harvey Two Face. That isn't healthy, Alfred. It's not healthy for adults, let alone a… a child. I know taking him in was the right thing, but was it for the right reasons… I worry Al, about him, everything around him, what might happen to him if he tries to follow my footsteps."

"Your footsteps? Excuse me for arguing, but Master Bruce, you and I both know that if that boy had no footsteps left to follow, he would create his own. And more likely than not, his path would lead to a life behind bars." Alfred stated vividly

Bruce opened his mouth to argue, but Alfred continued over the top, "You didn't take in that boy, and give him your name over fear of losing your other identity. That boy's last name is now Wayne because, you knew in your heart that it was the right thing. And if he does follow your footsteps, and he does protect the city of Gotham above his own life, I have to ask: is that future so damned, you would send that boy away to a life of crime instead?"

"Al, you know that's not what I meant…" Bruce backed from his defenses as Alfred rose to his.

"Yes it was. And if you truly believed this life to be so cursed and retched, you never would have put another thought towards the boy's future…" Bruce lowered his head as Alfred saw what was really bothering him, "It's ok to **care** Bruce, besides, who's to say he will turn out just like you? After all, you have given him a second chance at something you never had…" Alfred added. The blank look on Bruce's face signaled Alfred to answer, "A childhood, with a father."

Bruce spent a moment in thought as he listened to the boy's laughs in the background, as he pounced, flipped, and leaped around the cave. Before he could think too deeply, Alfred spoke again turning his attention to the monitor.

"What might we have this time?" he asked, directing Bruce's attention to the monitor as well.

The boy became interested in the subject as he proceeded to pretend he wasn't listening.

Bruce had immediately switched gears as he turned around and zoomed into the satellite view of the locations, "fires." He continued as he started his train of thought, "these marked locations are where each fire was… only," he paused.

"What?" Alfred asked.

"These locations aren't random, as the police had suspected… they weren't able to draw a connection between the fires other than the cause." He continued as his fingers zipped from one key to another, "All the fires started from a table lamp that caught flame…" he pulled up a report on each fire, "they were all the same lamp, an older model… they have a design flaw that causes them to spark whenever a short serge of electricity passes their source."

"Table lamps?" Alfred said with confusion as he watched multiple pages regarding the table lamps appear on the screen.

"The brand was shut down after the late 1980's, due to repeated house fires… they caused all 7 of the recent fires, but they didn't get there on their own… and it's no coincidence they all sparked at the same time." Bruce added.

Dick overheard every part of the conversation faintly, but he had to commit to sell the act. Bruce's eyes bounced from location to location on the screen as Dick balanced his weight evenly in a perfect handstand, with one hand holding him above a rock.

"Joker…" Bruce said out loud, catching the boy's attention as he flipped off the rock and landed on the ground with a purposely loud thud.

"Ha-ha!" Dick shouted as he ran up the steps to the computer deck and climbed up the rails in front of the computer. He faced the empty cave and stood tall as he announced his presence in imagination, "Ladies and Gentlemen, boys and girls of all ages!" he shouted.

"He left a map…" Bruce stated to Alfred, "The X and Y coordinates that were hit are a separate map to another location."

Dick listened carefully as he continued to sell his disinterest, "for the moment you've all been waiting for… RRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRichard Greysooooooooooooooooooooooooon!" he shouted, pretending to wave down at an imaginary audience. He stood tall on the rails as he mimicked the cheer of the audience, "hhhhhhaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhh!" he whispered.

"Here." Bruce pointed at an old abandoned ware house, on the outskirts of the city.

"A ware house…" Alfred suggested.

"The ware house where the manufactured lamps were kept before the company was shut down." Bruce added, attempting to speak over the top of the boy's shouts as he lowered his arm.

"He will perform the impossible, without the use of his vision!" Dick shouted.

"It's been abandoned ever since, wasn't even cleaned out…" Bruce stated.

"What business could Joker possibly have at an abandoned table lamp ware house? He's usually a bit more… _theatrical_." Alfred stated in between the boy's shouts.

"Yes… ladies and gentlemen, he will be… BLINDFOLDED!" the boy yelled, causing Bruce's train of thought to lead back to the boy standing on the rails.

"What about gaged?" Bruce suggested in sarcasm as he turned to face the boy.

Alfred chuckled as Dick turned around, pretending to be confused as Bruce continued, "You know the purpose of that exercise was to practice stealth, and invisibility… shouting is a good way to get caught." He reminded the boy.

Dick argued with a smile on his face, "but you also said to be _unpredictable_ and _ironic_ … everyone already knows your quiet and invisible, no one would guess a loud, announced entrance from **Batman**." He claimed. "Besides, pretty soon you'll be too old for stealth…"

"You're saying I'm predictable?" Bruce asked as he rubbed his chin with his hand and rose his left eyebrow, "can you predict this?" he said as he chased toward the boy. Dick flipped backwards off the railing running towards a wall, he skid up the side gripping the ledges.

"No, but I can predict something else…" he continued with sarcasm as Bruce playfully chased him further up the wall and across the ceiling, "your elderly body won't be able to keep up with a young, and strong man like me!" he shouted, pausing in between phrases to gain his breath.

"You think so, huh…" Bruce said slowly, swinging from ledge to ledge as he followed the path the boy made. Slowly quieting his voice, he backed into the shadows and disappeared.

"Oh I know so…" Dick claimed as he swung from the ceiling to the wall, skipping off the side and landing on the ground, "the only reason you're training me is because you know you're not going to live forever, but Gotham will still need Batman… so when you're a crippled old man, I…" he paused as his focus turned. The Dark Knight was nowhere to be found. "Bruce…" he spoke to the empty cave, the sound of bats flapping around the ceiling as he cautiously scanned the cave for the invisible man.

Bruce landed silently in the shadows behind the boy, he creeped up behind Dick as he continued his search. Bruce darted out of the shadows and picked up the boy by his waist. Holding him in the air, nearly scaring him half to death, "AHHH!" he shouted playfully.

No more than a second's worth of shock remained on Dick's face before he grew an ear to ear smile, trying not to laugh in defeat, "Hey! That's not fair!" he shouted enthusiastically.

"Not fair? How?" Bruce asked as he set the boy back on his feet.

"You used your ninja powers on me!" he stomped his foot as he continued, "you can't use ninja powers on me until you teach me ninja powers!" he claimed.

Trying not to laugh, Bruce replied, "I see your point…" he began to grin as he spoke again, "how about I show you a new tactic?"

Before Dick could reply, Bruce started to tickle the small boy enthusiastically as he spoke, "it's called… turning a weakness into a strength." He said playfully, still tickling the boy.

Dick started laughing with a playful scream into the cave, trying to form words through his smile, "Hey! Bru… Bruce!"

This continued for several minutes until the boy had melted to the floor, his face hurt and his lungs sore from laughing so hard. "Ok… Ok." Dick said as he attempted to catch his breath, "You got me…"

Bruce helped him back to his feet with a warm smile on his face as he turned his attention to Alfred, "who gave him the idea I was old?" Bruce asked across the cave, a slight echo among the bats at the roof of the darkness.

Alfred smiled in his response, noticing the mischievous look in the boy's eyes, "I believe that to be a conclusion he found on his own sir…"

Dick waited for Bruce to continue walking towards the computer as he caught his breath again. Alfred noticed his grin as he jumped onto Bruce's back and climbed to his shoulders, "Haha!" he shouted, "I got You!"

Bruce reached up and pulled the small boy down over his shoulder, holding him upside down by his ankles. Keeping a straight face as he spoke with sarcasm, "You were saying…"

Dick frowned and folded his arms, he grew a smirk as he opened his mouth, "You're still an old man…"

Dick chuckled as he returned the boy to his feet and held him in a head lock, rubbing his knuckles in the boy's coal black hair, "Smart Alek." He said

"Hey, Hey!" he shouted playfully, attempting to slip from under Bruce's arm, "You're messing up my side-kick hair!" he claimed as Bruce lifted his arm in confusion.

"Side-kick Hair?" Bruce asked, trying not to laugh as he started to walk back up the steps to the computer deck.

"Yep, for the pictures. Side-kicks gotta always look their best." Dick said as he combed his hair down with his hand, following the footsteps of Bruce.

"You think you're Batman's side-kick…." Bruce explained in question.

"Mmhm." Dick nodded with cheesy pride as he continued, "I'm the Little Bat." He claimed.

Bruce took a deep breath before continuing, "You're not a side-kick and I'm not calling you that." Bruce stated, slowly loosing enthusiasm.

"Fine. Bat Jr." the boy argued.

"No." Bruce said with a straight face.

"Well then, what's my name…" Dick demanded as he waved his finger and pointed at Bruce, "and position." He said.

"Your name is Richard John Greyson-Wayne, and your position is **safe**." Bruce stated as he sat in the chair in front of the computer.

"Oh come on… I…" the boy attempted to argue as Bruce interrupted his complaints.

"As of right now, you're young. Too young." Bruce claimed.

A smile grew on the boy's face as he thought for a second, "so you mean I can go with you _someday_ … when I'm older?" he asked.

Bruce turned to the computer as he began typing, hesitating to respond, "Maybe…" he stated quietly.

"Yes!" Dick said to himself and jumped off the railing, continuing to run around the cave with joy.

"His skills are improving quickly…" Alfred stated, grabbing Bruce's attention, "I don't believe it to be too long before the boy manages to successfully slip by you." He said.

Bruce pulled blue prints of the ware house up on the screen and stopped typing, pretending not to take what Alfred said to deep thought, "I will not put him in harm's way… not again." He said quietly, listening to Dick play and laugh in the background.

Bruce opened his mouth to continue but was interrupted by the flashing face call button. He pressed it, opening a message from the watchtower. Flash's face appeared on the big screen as Bruce immediately turned to Alfred, "Alfred, get him out of here…" he stated briefly.

" _Him?_ Him _who?_ Is this thing on?" Flash tapped the glass, creating a pounding thud like sound to echo through the cave as Bruce lost his patients.

"Yes, Flash. It's on." Bruce said as Alfred spoke.

"Master Richard, I do believe it is time for us to exit the cave." Alfred stated, Dick quickly rushed over to Alfred and they started to walk towards the exit, Dick listened to the conversation between Bruce and the mysterious man on the computer. 'Who's Flash?' he thought to himself.

Flash tried to look around the cave as he spoke, "Master _who_? Wait, is there _someone else_ in the cave? I thought _only_ Alfred knew about it."

"Flash." Bruce said with frustration… attempting to get his attention.

Bruce was unsuccessful as Flash continued, "Well, of course only **Alfred** would know about it… who else would, it's **the bat cave**. And you're **Batman** , only _Batman and his butler_ would know about the cave, unless… Hey! You should get a  side-kick, call him… Bat Boy, or Mini-Bats. No, Bat Jr. or…"

"Flash!" Bruce shouted, interrupting Flash's subconscious encouragement of a side-kick. He knew Dick was trying to listen, he was walking a little slow on purpose. Bruce continued after calming his voice, "why did you contact me?" he asked. The clink of the closing door in the background as Alfred and Dick were out of the cave.

"Oh… right, sorry. Um, we're having difficulties with the tower's communication systems… they're going on and offline constantly, we can't seem to form a steady channel." Flash stated.

"I've noticed… They were fine when I left last time, what did you do?" Bruce asked.

Flash raised his hands and shook his head, "hey, ask Hawk Girl… not me."

"Me?!" Hawk girl interrupted, "what did I do?!" she yelled, entering the screen from the side.

Bruce grew impatient as Flash continued, "You zapped the computer stuff with your zappy spike hammer thing…" he said as he pointed at her mace.

"I turned it on!" she claimed.

"You did more than that! Ever sense the black out, every system up and down this place has been acting funky like." Flash shouted.

"Flash! Hawk Girl!" Bruce interrupted loudly, "why was I contacted?"

Flash opened his mouth to reply, but Hawk Girl answered first, "we need you to come fix the wiring and reboot the systems." She demanded.

"Yes… what she said. Hey, you should bring your side-kick." Flash suggested.

"You have a, **what** now?" Hawk Girl asked.

"NO! I don't. And I have other plans at the moment." Bruce continued, "There's an instruction manual in the level 14 armory."

"Why is it in there? The computer's mainframe is on the 8th floor." Flash added as Hawk Girl chuckled.

"Because no one would think to look for it there." Bruce pointed out in sarcasm as he continued, "follow the instructions carefully, depending on what exactly caused the computers to shut down you'll have to figure out exactly which course to take when rebooting the system."

"Wow wow wow, wait a minute." Flash put his hands in a 'T' as he continued, "Time out… you want **us** to fix **your** computer?" he lowered his hands and raised his eyebrows, "does that mean, you're **not** helping us?" Flash asked.

Before Bruce could respond, Hawk Girl answered, "He never said **us** … _you're_ the one who called him, _you_ fix the computer." She pointed at Flash with a smirk as she turned and started to walk away.

"But you're the one who broke it! …" Flash attempted to argue.

Flash watched Hawk Girl walk away, speechless he turned back to the computer as gripped the edges of the small screen, "Bats, you gotta help me!" he claimed.

"I did…" Bruce almost smiled, "Armory, level 14… instruction manual, it's easy. Basic computer science… you'll get it."

Bruce closed the face call before Flash could argue any further, leaving the speedster to stare aimlessly at the empty monitor before zooming away to find the '14th floor'.

Meanwhile, Bruce redirected his attention to the Joker. As did young Dick.

The little acrobat timed everything perfectly, from the second Alfred had tucked him in to the moment he snuck into the cave. Bruce was still at the monitor, downloading blueprints. Dick had tried this many times before, always failing, but learning of each failure none-the less.

He waited in the shadows, as Batman did, he watched Bruce reach for his suit, 'now' he thought to himself. He turned and silently scurried up the wall. Camouflaged by shadows, gripping ledges, keeping a steady pace of elevation until reaching the cliff. A small crawlspace between the wall and the ceiling of the cave, where most of the bats hid.

Without disturbing the bats, he climbed onto the cliff that extended a few meters from the wall, giving just enough space to reach a crossing support beam; that happened to cross paths directly above the bat mobile.

Doing well to contain his excitement, the boy stayed silently suspended atop the beam, watching… waiting for Bruce to approach the vehicle. He waited for the door to open, prior to the occasion he calculated a window: if he were to land suspended a top the car at the precise moment as the closing door, he would remain unseen and unheard.

The door opened, he leaped from the beam at the exact calculated time as Batman lowered himself into the vehicle. And with no disturbance at all, the boy landed, and the door shut at exactly the same time. He waited in absolute stillness for the engine to start. When it did, he ducked: matching the roar of the engine, he crawled into a storage compartment just big enough for the boy to squeeze into.

He succeeded this far, the farthest he's ever gone. Tonight was the night, 'good thing I brought a mask' he thought to himself as the bat mobile zoomed away.

He felt every turn and bump in the road, he didn't know where exactly they were headed, but it wasn't inside the city. He felt the asphalt turn to gravel, then to dirt roads as he assumed they left the city, he began to wonder if he chose the right night to hide out in the bat mobile. Then the car stopped.

He listened to Batman's footsteps circle the vehicle to the passenger side storage compartment, he flinched as it snapped open, the icy air flooding in from outside. He looked up at the dark knight, anticipating Bruce's reaction.

"Clever… I'll give you that." Bruce stated as he held his hand out to help the boy up out of the small space, his breath visible in the December air.

He jumped from the side of the car, planting his feet firmly on the ground, the light crackling sound of snow beneath his feet. Dick held his hand up in excitement, "Ya!" he shouted, signaling a hi-five, "I told you I'd get it one day!"

Bruce walked past him and opened the passenger door, he spoke with no expression, "get in."

"Does this mean I finally get a name? And a costume?!" Dick's excitement was quickly interrupted by Bruce's frustration.

"No, this means I'm taking you home." Bruce held the door open, but Dick soon refused to get back in the car.

"What!?" he shouted, "but you said, if I came along without you finding out, I could help!" he argued.

"Exactly, and I found out. Get in." Bruce demanded.

"Then the premises of your deal was flawed! You made a false deal!" Dick pointed at Batman as the door closed, he stood firmly in the dirt as Bruce spoke.

"Proving this would gain you what?" Bruce asked, thinking the boy wouldn't catch on.

"I don't have to prove it… you promised, you lied." Dick frowned and folded his arms.

"Dick…" Bruce attempted to argue, but the boy was faster.

"You said the day I slip by you is the day I start learning in the field… this counts." The boy claimed.

Bruce thought of a scenario in his head before answering, he hesitated and took a deep breath, "did you bring a mask…" he asked.

Dick smiled as he pulled a ski mask from the pocket of his black jacket, he pulled it over his head and nodded, "yup."

"Ok…" Bruce said quietly, "here's the plan." He lead the boy around to the other side of the bat mobile while he explained, "behind the driver's seat, under the toolbox is a pair of binoculars…" he paused to look around, the ware house was about a half mile away, a few feet lower in elevation.

Dick crawled into the large seat and reached behind it, he scrambled out a pair of black binoculars and sat upright in the seat, studying them as Bruce continued, "the blue switch on the right side allows you to hear everything at the distance you're looking at. The nob on the end will adjust your distancing, along with the infrared setting that allows you to find heat signatures through barriers… like the walls." He stated.

Dick flipped the audio switch on the side and his eyes widened, "cool." He said out loud. His head turned and he drew confusion on his next words, "when do we fight the bad guys?"

Batman frowned as he continued, "Your instructions, are to study everything that happens inside that building… learn from my actions and the actions of the enemy… And do not, leave this car."

Dick sighed in disappointment, "Ok…"

Batman reached over the boy and opened a compartment at the right arm rest of the driver's seat, he pulled out an ear piece and turned it on, "This is an intercom ear communicator, it will allow you to keep contact with me while I'm in the building."

Dick took the ear piece and put it in his ear, adjusting it with discomfort, "I think it's too big…" he claimed, "Does this mean I'm a side kick?" he asked.

Batman almost let out a smile as he replied, "promise me one thing Dick…" the boy nodded as Batman continued, "Above everything else, you'll stay in…"

"In the car…" Dick mimicked him as he knew what the dark knight would say, "I know, I promise."

Batman nodded and disappeared into the darkness, Dick closed the door and held the over-sized binoculars to his small face. He scanned the outside of the ware house, seeing nothing suspicious, he turned on the heat vision, noticing a blocked off room.

He counted 5 bodies inside, one in a chair with his feet on a table, one standing on each side, one guarding what looked like an entrance, and the last at the window, staring right back at him with another pair of binoculars.

Frightened, Dick remembered that nothing can see through the bat mobile, he watched the figure turn from the window, removing his binoculars. He turned up the volume on the audio and tuned it to the exact distance.

He listened closely to a dark, stiff and hollow voice speak across the room, "you were right… there's someone else with him, still in the car. I didn't see who, but he brought a friend…" he said.

"Well then…" said a creepily enthusiastic man across the room. He sat at the table with his feet up as he spoke, that must have been _**him**_ , "we'll have to welcome him to the club..."

Part 2: Scene 2

The watch tower was quiet in most areas, except level 8: were the redhead speedster stood with his arms folded, staring down at the mess of tangled and loos wires. He took a deep breath as he heard wonder woman's footsteps behind him.

"Having fun?" she asked sarcastically.

Flash rolled his eyes as he replied, "Yeah, havin' a blast trying to fix the stupid thing. None of this makes any sense at all."

Confusion struck Diana's face, "Then why are you trying to fix it?"

"Because Bats told me to… he even told me where the instruction manual was: armory on level 14. Just one problem, there is no 14th floor!" he yelled in frustration.

Diana's face went blank, then her eyes filled with worry and hope, "Batman told you… you spoke to him…"

Flash turned from the wires and faced wonder woman as she continued, "How is he? Did he say anything about what he's been doing…"

Flash shrugged his shoulders, "just that he said he had plans tonight… that's why _**I**_ had to fix the electronic nightmare." Flash failed to notice the disappointment painted on Diana's face as he continued, "you wouldn't happen to know what he meant by, 'level 14 armory' would you?"

Diana shook her head as if she woke herself from a dream, she puzzled her words together slowly as she brought herself back to the matter at hand, "Hm? Oh… yeah. It's a supply closet just off the cafeteria on the 5th floor."

Flash showed disbelieve for a moment, then zoomed away and back in less than a couple seconds. He held the manual open in attempt to read it, "Haha, very funny Bats… see why am _I_ the _only_ person who _wouldn't know_ that?" Flash stated as he squinted at the pages, "Wait, it's in Spanish."

Diana sighed and rolled her eyes, "are you reading it upside down?" she asked.

Flash's eyes widened as he slowly turned the manual right side up, "No…" he attempted a poker face, it wasn't working.

Not much time was required for Flash to lose the poker face and continue to speed-read the manual. After a couple seconds and multiple times re-reading, he eventually made sense of the manual, "Ohhhhh." He said out loud.

For the next few moments, all Diana could see was the wires and equipment slowly disappearing, as Flash re-installed every remaining component at almost light speed.

Flash's figure reappeared in still in the middle of the room, he brushed the dust off his hands as he smirked, "Now how about that, princess?"

Diana ignored his remark and continued, "Did you fix it?" she asked.

Flash thought for a second as he lost his smile, "Only one way to find out…" he zoomed over to the control panel and moved his finger from one button to another with uncertainty, "I just have to find the right button…" he stated.

"I thought you read the…" she began as Flash interrupted.

"Aha!" he said, "got ya!" his finger hovered over a round green button, he proceeded to press it several times when the first try didn't do anything.

"Stop it!" Diana pulled his hand from the control panel, "there has to be something you missed… hmm, maybe…"

Flash frowned at the computer as he thought, he then kicked the side of the console in frustration.

"Flash!" Diana shouted as she lost her patients.

Flash shrugged his shoulders as lights started to glow and the screen powered on, "what? I turned it on… see." he claimed innocently.

"Oh. So it's ok for you… but when I do it, I've committed a crime?!" Hawk Girl entered the room with frustration as she continued, "What are you, 12?!"

"I didn't have to zap anything!" Flash argued.

"Enough! Both of you!" Diana yelled, turning her attention to the large monitor as she calmed her voice, "we have to reconnect all the intercoms to the watchtower, somehow put them all back on the right frequency…"

"Step aside princess." Flash stretched his fingers over the keyboard as he continued, "I got this." He smiled.

"Can you reset the communications from here?" Hawk Girl asked.

"Of course I can do that…" Flash added, "I'll have to do them one at a time though."

Hawk Girl rolled her eyes as Diana continued, "Ok… where do we start?"

"When the blackout disconnected to string holding all the intercoms together, they formed their own channels on different frequencies. We'll have to surf each frequency individually to find each intercom, once we've established a connection, we'll reset it's channeling manually from here." Flash stated as he began typing, "Here, I'll start with this one… looks like yours." He pulled up an audio frequency window on the screen as he narrowed his eyes. After a few seconds he spoke again, "there… your intercom is now connected with the watchtower."

"That's it?" Diana asked in surprise.

"Yup… one down, a few short of 100 to go." Flash took a deep breath as he started on the next frequency. Hawk Girl walked away and Diana started to follow, but a voice pulled through the white noise of the frequency.

"Help… Help me please!" it sounded like a boy, a small boy.

Diana's eyes widened as she flew back to the computer and ended up pushing Flash almost completely out of the way as she took over the keyboard, "who's that…" She put her hand to her intercom in attempt to connect it with that of the one on screen, "Hello?"

The voice continued as if it couldn't hear her, "They know I'm here! They're outside the car, looking right at me!" he screamed.

"Whoever's on the other end can't hear you but you can hear them, it's a one way connection." Flash stated as he immediately took control over the keyboard again, "but I can pin-point their location from the signal… if you want."

"Do it." Diana demanded.

"Batman!" the voice called, surprising both Wonder Woman and Flash, "They've got me! You have to stop them!"

Flash continued typing as a marked location appeared on the screen, "the signal is coming from just outside… Gotham City." He cleared his throat.

Diana turned and started to rush towards the Zeta beam, "Hey! Wait a minute?!" Flash shouted.

Diana interrupted as she flew away, "don't lose contact with him or me!" she yelled.

Before Flash could argue, Diana was on her way to the ware house on the outskirts of Gotham city. She put her hand to her earpiece as she flew across the landscape, "Flash..."

"I'm still here princess… I'm trying to connect your frequency with this intercom's, do you know who this is?" Flash asked from the tower, typing quickly in attempt to connect the two channels.

The voice continued as Diana responded, "no… but he has one of our communicators, and he sounded like he was with Batman…"

"Bruce please! No… No No No NO!" the boy cried, as screams of terror echoed through the tower.

"Oh. My. God." Flash interrupted, still listening to the boy's voice as he broke into tear shattering screams.

"Flash! What is it!?" Diana stopped in her tracks at his answer.

"This, Boy… he just called for _**Bruce**_ , and…" Flash paused.

"Our Bruce?" A moment of silence shattered panic on Diana's face, "Flash, what happened!?" she demanded.

"He was… just a second ago, he's gone. I lost him…" Flash paused to gather his words before Diana could speak, "he sounded like he was in pain, I think he… he…"

"He what? Get him back!" Diana yelled.

"I'm still connected to the intercom, but he's not responding. I think he passed out… from the pain…" Flash's face broke shock as he continued, "Diana…this kid was being tortured."


	3. Recovery

Part 3: Scene 1

It was late, the muggy clouds above the Gotham sky didn't allow the moon light to shine upon the ground. But that was the usual darkness of the outside air, the real unusually chilling shadows came from inside the Wayne manor. Even for Batman himself, it was darker than usual.

Alfred found himself staring at the grandfather clock with shaky hands, it read 2:46am. He decided he'd had enough. His face cross as he impatiently made his way down the stair to the cave, huffing at the sight of Bruce still at the computer.

"Master Bruce…" he addressed, only to be ignored. A moment of silence passed before Alfred walked up the steps to the computer deck, he stopped a few steps behind Bruce, silently staring at the screen. His eyes narrowed as Alfred continued a second time, "Master Bruce." He addressed firmly.

Alfred took a deep breath at the sight of the surveillance footage on the screen, all 7 views of the boy's hospital bed. He looked back down at the silent billionaire, he spoke as if disappointed, "You still haven't been to see him yet…" he stated.

Bruce stretched his fingers over the key board and pulled up a medical report, be began to read it out loud with frustration, "Major bruising along the inside tissue surround the left dislocated arm, 4 cracked ribs, including two broken. One collapsed lung, double bone fracture, and 7 individual fractures in the hand alone, all favoring the left side." Bruce's voice darkened as the next few words stumbled from his mouth, "I don't need to see him."

Alfred cocked an eyebrow with his response, "You stole medical files…" he indicated out loud, continuing unimpressed, "hacking the hospitals database, I see… Assuming that is also how you've managed to avoid Child Protective Services."

"They were never informed." Bruce grunted.

Alfred looked back at the screen as the medical report was closed, revealing the 7 cameras placed around young Dick's hospital room and surrounding hallways, "Are you proud of yourself?" Alfred asked, already anticipating Bruce's reaction, taking a few steps backwards.

Bruce's eyes widened, his fists clenched as he turned from the screen and stood from the chair. His eyes red and attempting to resist the heaviness of the bags beneath them, trying to avoid being tired having been awake for the past 72 hours straight. He managed to growl and bark at the same time in his response, "What kind of question is that?"

Alfred's expression didn't change, other than upon the odor of Bruce's breath, "The kind intended to pull a man's thoughts back in the right direction." Alfred continued before Bruce could argue further, "Master Bruce, I have watched you grow and struggle for many years with a hole in your heart. A hole that you pretend to have filled with the mantle of Batman until you met a certain young boy…"

Bruce stumbled back into the chair and rubbed his eyes as Alfred went on, "Now, you cannot hide the fact that you favored the idea of Batman's absence in Gotham, ever since the boy came to us. And that you feel guilty for trying to care for both Batman and Richard Grayson."

Bruce opened his eyes to glance back at the screen while Alfred went on, "4 months ago, I saw that hole in your heart, slowly transform into a tender, love for the boy… he healed you as much as you healed him. You might not have always known it, but you have needed this boy for quite some time. Now he is here, and he needs you."

Bruce looked down as his chair faced the computer, he cradled his head in his hands as they rested upon the dashboard, "It wouldn't make any difference if I were here or there Al, he hasn't been fully conscious since his recovery started… the closest he's been to waking up, was during the panic attacks he's been having." He stated, trying to convince himself, "I have eyes and ears everywhere around him… I can protect him better from here and…"

Alfred interrupted with a calm voice, "Maybe, all he needs is your eyes and ears, there… with him."

"That's a big 'maybe', Al." Bruce pointed out, sounding unsure of which side he was on.

"As was the suggestion of legal adoption…" Alfred stated.

Bruce took a deep breath of defeat as he stood, he looked at Alfred with droopy eyes filled with sadness, "I messed up…" he gulped, attempting to be-rid the lump in his throat, "he'll never forgive me, I failed him."

Alfred placed one hand on Bruce's shoulder, "He can't forgive you if you're not there… and we both know that's not what you're concerned about." Alfred nodded, removing his hand from Bruce's shoulder, "Go on now… I'll watch from here. And do change before you leave, those clothes deserve a break after 4 days in the cave."

Bruce started to walk up the stairs when he turned back to Alfred, now sitting in the chair, "Alfred…" he called out.

The butler turned in his chair, "Yes?"

"Thank You…" Bruce smiled, turning to walk up the stairs, exiting the cave as Alfred turned back around.

"You're very welcome…" Alfred said to himself, with a sense of accomplishment.

Bruce managed to change into decent attire, and make himself somewhat presentable before leaving the manor at close to 4 in the morning. The hospital was quiet when he arrived, most of the lights dimmed, most of the doors closed, most doctors absent. He was escorted to Dick's room by a nightshift nurse, one of the scariest things the Dark Knight had ever seen was Dick like this.

The artificial oxygen being pumped through a clear tube, wrapping around his head and into his tiny nose. His thick black hair in messy clumps, nearly covering his eyes as they remained shut. Most of his skin was wrapped in bandages, Gauze, or casting… but still felt icy cold to the touch. The heartrate on the monitor next to his bed felt like a gunshot straight to Bruce's chest with every 'beep', Bruce sat in the chair next to the plastic sheet covered bed as his eyes grew misty. For a few moments, Bruce covered his eyes with one hand, in attempt to hide his emotion… despite everything, he still had to play 'tough guy'.

Bruce's hand slid from his eyes and down his face, landing in his lap as his other hand lifted. He reached for Dick's cold, pale hand, hesitating a few times first. Dick underwent a subconscious physical response upon contact, as soon as Bruce's hand touched Dick's, the boy took a deep breath, and returned to steady force-fed oxygen.

Bruce's heart sank, and with a few minutes, so did his eyes. Alfred watched from the cave with a warm smile upon the sight of Bruce falling asleep at the boy's bedside. 'A well-deserved rest, mentally and physically'. Alfred thought to himself. Knowing that it would provide comfort to the Dark Knight, Alfred stayed at the monitor for the rest of the night.

Part 3: Scene 2

The watchtower had plenty of activity to go around, with the gossip of some mysterious kid who knew Batman's identity… the only place Diana could go to escape the guilt was her room. And even that location was compromised at times, with the Flash also sharing the guilt, but only knowing half the story.

Flash knew something had been bothering Diana, well, it took no detective… the entire tower knew it. But Flash was there when the call hiccupped through the frequency to the tower, he heard the horror in the mysterious boy's voice as well.

He approached her door with caution, knocking slowly at first without a good cover reason.

Thud, thud, thud.

"Hey Princess… I was thinkin' maybe you wanted to, do something… or talk, or. Anything… C'mon, I know you're in there." The silence somehow prompted him to continue.

THUD, THUD, THUD!

Diana sat at the edge of her bed, staring deeply into blank space as she replayed her memories in her head. Only to be rudely interrupted.

"Diana, please open the door! Just talk to me…" he suggested.

THUD, THUD, THUD!

Diana finally looked at the door in hesitation before getting up to answer it, she stayed at the door for a second before opening it at the sound of Flash's voice.

"Look Princess, I was there too…" his tone calmed and quieted, "and, it probably didn't seem like it… but I was as freaked out as you were. Terrified in fact. When you came back to the tower a few hours later without sayin' another word for almost 4 days, I kinda assumed the worst. Bats hasn't said anything either, I know whatever happened down there wasn't pleasant… but c'mon, you're leavin' me in the dark here…"

Diana opened the door with sad eyes, she invited him in with a fake smile, "alright…" she said, failing to sell her smile, "I'll tell you what happened… but the details aren't my business to share." She clarified.

Flash nodded as he sat down in the chair by the desk on the far side of the room, Diana watched the door close before moving to sit back down on the bed. Her eyes faced the ground and she ran her hand through her hair, she gulped slightly before speaking.

"After you told me he was being tortured, I panicked… I flew as fast as I could to the coordinates you gave me, they sent me to an old ware house full of those short light sources." She questioned her word choice before continuing, as Flash nodded in understanding, "I found Batman unconscious inside, he had been zapped, or shocked with something… I didn't know what it was, but his communicator was shot. I tried to call for back-up, that's when my communicator went down as well." She cleared her throat before continuing once more, "I found a trail of trickled blood and drag marks, struggled drag marks… I dragged Batman with me to follow them, that's when I saw him."

"The boy…" Flash asked.

Diana nodded, almost ashamed to continue, "...when I found him he was on the ground, like you said he might have been passed out… except, he was dead. I tried to restart his heart, but there was blood everywhere, I assumed it was his… my attempt to bring life back to the child was unsuccessful, until Batman woke up."

Flash's face struck confusion deep enough to be seen through his red mask, "what caused him to wake back up?"

"I don't know, he jolted up from the ground like he'd been hit by, something." she contemplated, "Batman was able to restart the boy's heart with a device he pulled from his belt… I didn't see exactly what it was or what it did." She neglected to tell Flash the other things, like how Bruce called out the name 'Richard' when reviving the small child. This is when anger crowded Diana's words as she continued the horrific tale, "Joker's voice started to echo through the halls of crates and boxes, Batman told me to get the boy out of the ware house. So I flew him to a hill just outside, that's when the old building exploded."

Flash's expressions changed drastically to match the tone of Dianna's voice, except the end part. Where Diana's voice showed sadness and compassion whereas Flash looked as if ready to kill something.

"Batman was injured from the explosion, but insisted I leave to fly the boy to the nearest hospital. I didn't know who the boy was, or his connection to Batman… if he even had one." she lied, "but when I went back to the wreckage of the building, Batman was gone." Another lie, "I tried to contact him after that, but he still won't respond." There was truth in that last part as Flash spoke up.

"Wait…" he stood and folded his arms, "what did Joker want with some random kid, and a table lamp ware house?" he asked, steam coming from his ears.

Diana shrugged as Flash continued, "And why hurt a little kid like that? Was it just to get under Bats' skin?! Cuz that's a really sick sense of humor!" he shouted.

"Flash…" Diana tried to intervene.

"No Princess. I'm gonna find this guy! And when I do, I'm a' tell him just exactly how 'funny' I think he is!" Flash argued, punching his other hand.

"FLASH!" Diana shouted, just stopping the speedster before he opened the door. She stood from her bed and spoke cautiously, "You can't go after Joker…"

"Why not?!" Flash protested.

"Because Batman gave me direct orders, NOT to engage." Diana stated.

Flash frowned as she continued, "I told you… the details are not my business to share. Batman is already doing everything that can be done, you'll just have to trust me on this."

The anticipation in Diana's eyes prompted the speedster to take a deep breath and release his anger, lowering his hand from the door, "Fine…" he grunted, "But if Bats doesn't take care of this guy, I'm gonna…" he stopped mid-sentence, noticing Diana place her hand over her ear as she stared into blank space.

A second or two of silence passed before she spoke out loud, "on my way." She ensured. Passing Flash on her way out the door, "promise me you won't do anything stupid… even if it seems like the right thing to do."

Flash nodded with a disapproving frown, the door opened and Flash followed Diana out. Their paths split upon exiting the room.

Part 3: Scene 3

"Tell me, little boy…" his voice echoed through the darkness, black fog blinded the boy's sights as he stood on a cold, wet ground. He tried to move, but couldn't… as if he were frozen. He could feel the cold slowly creeping through his cuts, his legs, arms, and chest. He heard his heartbeat in his throat upon the sound of the creepily enthusiastic voice, "What exactly are you doing, with the Batman?"

He felt the blade press up against his cheek, the cold metal stung as it made its freshest cut along his cheek bone. But he couldn't scream. The warm blood trickled down his face, like a tear that he couldn't cry. A drop of blood from his cheek crashed into the ground, the ground made of red. Dick panicked at the sensation of slowly sinking into the ground.

"Fine then…" the voice said, the blood began to crawl up Dick's chest as the voice revealed itself. Green hair, dark purple suit, a grin defining evil itself. He chuckled as Dick's head sank below the thickness of the red, "Answer this…"

Dick lost control of his heartrate, struggling to grasp breath as the last few words echoed through the blood sea, "How much blood has to leave your body, before you die?"

GASP!

His eyes flung open, a shiver sent down his spine as it straightened itself from a bridge position. He struggled to breathe through the oxygen machine as it prevented him from catching his breath, his eyes remained wide open as he attempted to focus through the bright light of the hospital room. Foggy figures appeared as shadows and began to form people over his bedside as he listened to muffled voices.

"He's awake! How's that possible?!" called a young woman.

"The oxygen! Dear Lord… He's breathing on his own!" called an older man.

His right hand clenched tight as he regained feeling in his extremities, gripping the plastic sheets of the hospital bed. It wasn't until then, he realized he was screaming. His vision focused sharply at the paneling of the ceiling, his hearing did the same as he struggled to keep track of the sped up words.

Plenty of things Dick didn't understand were thrown across the room, the doctors seemed pretty loud until they left the room.

 _-"Diana, he's awake."_ 'That sounded like Bruce…'

He relaxed his hand and regained control of his breath as he felt a tube slowly slip from his throat, he coughed violently and shut his eyes, taking a few frazzled breaths before opening them back up. He refocused his sight as his eyes wondered down to find Bruce, at his bedside.

He felt Bruce's touch at his hand, when he realized he was lying down he attempted to sit up, "Br… Bruce?" he started softly, gaining control of his vocals.

Bruce placed his other hand at the boy's forehead, "whoa, slow down…" he said. Dick groaned as he let himself fall back into the pillow. He listened to Bruce's voice with relief, "close your eyes kid, you nee…"

A sudden fear shot through the boy's body and he sat up at the speed of light, "Don't make me sleep!" he screamed. Catching Bruce and the two doctors by complete surprise as tears streamed down his cheeks, "Don't let me go back to sleep!"

"Hey, hey, hey…" Bruce attempted to speak, the boy's hand squeezed Bruce's till it turned purple, "calm down… Dick, hey…" He took Dick's chin and softly pulled it towards him, "look at me. I'm here, you're safe now…" his words succeeded to calm the boy a little, his body still shaking all over.

"There, there was a man… he," Dick trembled and slurred over his words in between gulps and breaths, "he… it was, was cold and… blood, ever… everywhere and… AHG!"

Dick's hand left Bruce's as it wrapped around his stomach beneath his other casted arm, gripping his left ribs through the thick gauze around his side. His eyes shut tightly in pain, his teeth grinded together through his groan.

"Dick…" Bruce called in a quiet voice, pressing gently at the boy's chest to lay him back down, "it's alright… you're in the hospital, you're OK…"

Dick's voice calmed over a long period of time, removing his hand from his side, he slowly felt his cast over his left arm. He looked back at Bruce with confusion written on his face, he didn't have to say anything for Bruce to respond, "You had a bit of a rough night…"

Dick's hand reached up for Bruce's face, tears started to trickle down his face as a slight smile curled his lips, "Bruce…" Bruce took his hand, only to be gently tugged down into a hug. Dick's one arm slung tightly around Bruce's neck, "Tati!" he sniffed as he closed his eyes, hugging Bruce as tight as his weakened muscles allowed him, "I was so scared, I thought you… you let me go. I thought I left you…"

Shocked at first, Bruce softly hugged the boy back. Smiling warmly as he spoke, "Come on now, you think I'd let you slip away that easy?"

Starting to sob through his words the boy's stitched voice grew as loud as it could allow, "He told me I had to die! He… He said I had to DIE Bruce!"

Shame began to cloud Bruce's thoughts as he attempted to calm the panicking child, _'I did this', 'this is my burden', 'what am I supposed to tell him?', 'how could I have let this happen?', 'WHAT HAVE I DONE?'_.

Dick continued to wail through his words as he cried into Bruce's neck, "Why did I have to die?! I don't want to die, Bruce! I… I don't want to!"

"Hey…" Bruce lifted himself from his grip and gently cradled Dick's face in his large hands, "Look at me, Dick. Nothing is ever going to happen to you, you hear me. Nothing." He stated boldly in reassurance.

Once more, Bruce Wayne found himself holding the small child halfway in his arms as he slowly managed to cry himself back to sleep. And for a moment, everything was quiet again. The heart rate monitor steadily beeping to the rhythm of silence, the icy pale skin wrapped mostly in bandages and gauze, covered with plastic felt sheets and blankets… the interruption of the hospital symphony was greeted before it arrived, Bruce spoke first.

"How bad is it up there?" he said to the empty room.

"Not the best, but not out of hand either…" Diana replied from around the door frame of the room. She came around the corner and sat in the chair on the wall across from the bed.

"The fact that you set aside time to change before you came here suggests you weren't followed…" Bruce questioned out loud, noticing she wasn't in her uniform but rather dress slacks and blouse.

"Flash knows the story, details aside… he wants to go after the Joker." She continued.

"He can't." Bruce snapped, still holding Dick's hand as he slept.

"Why not? It seems like a rather good idea to me…" she argued as she folded her arms. She huffed in frustration when Bruce didn't reply, "I could hardly keep Flash from storming Gotham in search of Joker the first time! What's to stop me from going with him the next time?!" she shouted in a surprisingly low tone.

"The stability of the Justice League." Bruce said calmly, continuing before Diana could yell back, "Joker attacked Dick that night because he was with me. Joker wanted to take something of mine that was so precious, that would cause me to go after him for revenge. Not the kind you come back from." Bruce let go of Dicks hand as he turned to face Diana in the other chair, "putting me on that path would result in my possible sabotage of the Justice League from the inside out, and ultimate discoordination between members. Leaving a perfect target for a bullet, a plot I'm afraid, is all too clever for Joker to come up with alone."

Diana's attitude towards Bruce had changed immediately, from anger to determination, "The injustice League?"

"Perhaps… details aside, going after Joker would only set the plot into play… I can't do that. Even after seeing Dick like this," he glanced back at the sleeping child as he continued, "if I went to that dark place, I wouldn't ever come back…"

His attention was redirected towards Diana at the touch of her hand on his, her words gentle and no longer scary, "I believe you… but if we won't go after Joker, how do we beat him at his game?" she asked.

"Simple…" Bruce's expression tightened, "We make our own rules."

Part 3: Scene 4

Dick spent the next 4 weeks in the hospital during recovery, the following recovery time was spent at the manor as Dick slowly began to shred casts and bandages. His physical body was nearly healed, but his mind had hardly scratched the surface of the healing process. He ate and slept less to the point where his nightmares and eating habits were worse than when he first stayed at the manor. In this time of suffrage though, Dick and Bruce had managed to form a stronger attachment to each other that neither will admit.

Nearing what would hopefully be the end of the recovery process came the cheer of the holidays, if only it weren't accompanied by the knife shadow man. The snow had fallen steeper, the white blanket now lay itself up to 7 inches higher, Christmas was 2 weeks away, and once again, Dick had only gone to bed a solid two hours before he was awakened again.

The voice, "How much blood has to leave your body, before you die?" echoing over and over inside Dick's head. He tossed and turned on his bed for more than a few minutes before his eyes flung back open, his forehead dripping with sweat. He had gotten to the point where he would no longer be awakened by his own screams of pain as he saw the knives repeatedly draw his blood, but rather the inability to breathe as he watched himself drown in his own blood.

For the past week or so, Dick had gained the ability to sneak down the hall, and into Bruce's room in the middle of the night almost unheard. Although exercising stealth could have been productive, with Batman, it was best to announce your presence rather than attempt to sneak up on him.

"Bruce?" his little voice called out in the darkness before gently opening the door, his big blue eyes peered in through the door as it cracked open slightly. He called out again a bit louder, "Bruce?" with no response at 11pm, Dick knew exactly where to look next. The cave.

Dick scampered and stumbled down the stairs before quietly entering the cave, he found Bruce at the computer, again. But this time, in complete silence. He stayed and hid in the shadow of the stairs for a moment as he watched Bruce stare at a photo on the screen. It wasn't fully enlarged so Dick couldn't see what it was from his distance, curiosity lead him to accidentally sneak up behind Bruce.

"Bruce…" the little voice from behind almost phased the Dark Knight, he exited the view of the photo and turned in his chair.

He smiled at the sight of Dick in his footsy pajamas, rubbing sleep from his eyes, "Hey Dick…" he said quietly, lifting the child onto his lap, "bad dream?" Dick nodded as he lay his head into Bruce's chest, watching uninterestingly at the screen as Bruce spun back around to the screen.

"What were you looking at?" Dick asked.

"Oh, nothing… try not to think about it, ok?" Bruce replied.

Dissatisfied with the answer, Dick sat up on Bruce's lap and took over the keyboard. His tiny fingers started typing slowly as he focused his eyes. Within a minute or so, a small image appeared on the screen. Dick enlarged it before Bruce could stop him, he was surprised to see a picture of a couple, and a boy.

"Dick?" Bruce tried to scold the boy, but he interrupted.

"This is you… isn't it?" he said, pointing to the child between the two adults. Dick turned his head to see Bruce nod with a straight face, but he wasn't angry. Dick released the keyboard from his hands and curled back into Bruce's chest, "and that's your Mami, and Tati…" he didn't have to turn around to feel another nod from Bruce, or an attempt to swallow a thick throat lump.

Dick took a deep breath, "You never talk about them… they were taken from you weren't they? Like my parents were taken from me?" he asked.

"Yeah…" Bruce replied in a voice as cold as stone, "they were gunned down when I was 8 years old…"

"I already know they're dead…" Dick implied, "their names are in the graveyard behind the house…" a sliver of surprise creeped its way onto Bruce's face as the boy continued, "Thinking about how my parents died makes me sad too… so I only think about what they were like when they were alive…" a smile grew on Dick's face as he started in another tone, "they would hold hands everywhere they went together. Sometimes they would make silly faces at each other, and I always looked away when they gave each other kisses. And when they didn't seem happy that day, they could never stay mad at each other for a long time. They said they loved each other…"

Bruce stared up at the enlarged image for a moment before Dick spoke up again, "What were your parents like?"

Bruce couldn't wrap his head around anything that happened that night, the child fell asleep in his lap after about an hour of sharing and hearing stories of parents, both his and Bruce's. Bruce carried the child in his arms gently back up to his room, and tenderly laid him down in his bed. Though this routine had been repeated many times over the past few weeks, this time was different. Almost as if the child held a shard of Bruce's heart in his tiny hands, Bruce had never experienced an attachment to a child. For the first time, he felt like a father.

A real coincidence. Almost on que, as Bruce closed the door to Dick's room after tucking him in, he received a call from the tower. It just so happened to be none other than Clark Kent.

 _-"Watchtower to Batman."_

Bruce put his hand to his ear, "yes…" he whispered.

 _-"We have a situation that requires your help."_

"Wouldn't be you if you didn't."

 _-"Nice to hear from you too. We need you to get to the tower as soon as possible."_

Bruce looked back into the room with the sleeping child, hesitant at his response, "What if I can't?"

 _-"What's holding you at 4 in the morning?"_

Bruce closed the door to Dick's room and quietly walked down the hallway, "Nothing." He grunted, "On my way."

Bruce left for the tower that morning after informing Alfred to watch Dick, leaving three hours in between the time Bruce left, and the time Dick woke up. The same disturbing dream awoke Dick from his unpleasant slumber, the same voice, the same blood, the same sensation of not being able to breathe that flung his eyes open. Although he had been able to stop screaming, the nightmares didn't get any quieter.

7:02 am. Dick silently wondered down the quiet hallway and down the stairs to the kitchen, noticing an abnormal amount of stillness throughout the manor. He found Alfred preparing breakfast, humming dimly to himself as he did.

"Alfred…" he asked, startling the butler and interrupting his song.

"Good Morning master Dick, you frightened me." Alfred replied with a warm smile as he continued to prepare the dishes.

"Sorry." His eyes drooped a little.

"Oh, don't be sorry." Alfred implied with sarcasm, "you'll just have to work on purposely making noise when approaching old folk like myself."

Dick's smile at Alfred's humor was dimmed as he looked over his shoulder at the doorway, "Bruce is gone, isn't he…"

"That is correct, he left early this morning…" Alfred notice Dick look at the ground and pretend to not be upset with the news, "but don't worry, before he left he assured me everything would be fine."

"Did he say when he w's gonna be back?" Dick asked, his eyes slightly filling with hope.

Alfred hesitated before answering, "No… but I can't imagine he will be able to spend too long away from his lad." Alfred stated, trying to lighten the boy's mood.

It must have worked, within the split second of hearing those words brought a warm smile to the boy's face, "Did he say that? Did he say I was his lad?" he asked eagerly.

Alfred chuckled at the boy's enthusiasm, "Why yes." He stopped preparing the food to turn and face the boy.

Dick's smiled weakened in a pause, "he never tells me that…"

Alfred kneeled to the boy's eye level and put his hand on his shoulder, "he is afraid… he and his stubbornness won't ever admit it, but he sees you as his own. It is why he neglected to involve you in any of Batman's business, he didn't want you getting hurt."

Dick thought for a second before struggling to lift his pajama shirt around his still casted arm, revealing pink stitching scars along his ribs and lower side, "is that how I got these?..." he asked, running his fingers over the rough marks on his skin.

Alfred pulled his shirt back down softly and took a deep breath, "have you been able to remember anything before you woke up in the hospital?" Alfred quickly tried to change to subject.

Dick shook his head, forgetting about the scars, "no… the last thing I can think of was when Bruce was tickling me, that was fun…"

Alfred showed a slight relief as he stood to proceed with his chore, Dick spoke up again after a few moments of deep thought, "You took care of him, didn't you…"

"You're very observant master Dick, this is correct." Alfred stated, he continued before Dick could say anything else, "I cared for him as if he were my own. Behavior like that is rare among the modern world, so I know it when I see it." He assured the boy.

Dick looked up, blue eyes wide, "So… you think he really does think of me that way, like… like a _son_?"

Alfred smiled as he looked back down at the boy, "I know he does…"

A wide smile grew on the boy's face as Alfred tried not to show affection, "which is how I know he won't be long before he returns, he…"

Alfred was interrupted by the feeling Dick's arm wrapped around his waist in a hug, "Thank you, Alfred." He said.

The butler returned the gesture, smiling softly as Dick unlatched himself from Alfred and looked up, "You're very welcome."


	4. Questions and Secrets

Part 4: Scene 1

'Sigh…' Flash stood behind him, cautiously waiting for a response from Batman as he stood stiffly in front of the computer, with no expression at all. Just typing.

"…"

'Sigh.' His breath of a whine echoed through the halls of the watchtower, attempting to grab the Dark Knight's attention. With no response, the speedster tried once again, exaggerating huffing and puffing before letting out a loud… whatever it was.

"ALFALOUGHA!"

"…"

The crisp sound of the keys being pressed simultaneously as Batman refused to acknowledge the speedster's distress, mocked Flash to the point of making his eye twitch. Finally, Flash through himself at the wall next to them and let out an overly obnoxious, "AAAAAAAAALLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLFFFFFFFFFAAAAAAAAALLLLLLLLLLLLLOOOOOOOOOUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!" his 'sigh' echoed loudly through the halls as Batman simply continued typing.

"…"

Flash opened his mouth to moan again, but Batman stopped him, "Something I can help you with?" he stopped typing to turn and stare Flash directly in the eyes.

Flash's face lit up like a Christmas tree, "YES! Thank you for asking… You know, most people don't even notice these things anymore. You could be quite the gentleman when you wanted to, even though you're…"

Batman took a breath of frustration as he lost his patients, giving the, I'm-turning-around-in-5-seconds-if-you-don't-say-something-useful-now, look.

Flash folded his arms and cleared his throat as his tone got serious, "Right, I want to know about him… Who was he, where did he come from, and HOW did he know your identity?"

Batman cocked an eyebrow, "Excuse me?" he replied in question.

"The **kid** , Bats…" Flash pointed out, "I want to know who he is." he demanded.

Batman's eyes narrowed, "What kid?" he asked, already knowing the answer.

Flash lost his patients, if he had any to start with, "Gee, I don't know? Maybe the kid that nearly _died_ in the explosion of the ware house in _**Gotham**_ _three months ago_! Or was there more than one of those that you ' _forgot'_ to mention as well!?" Flash yelled.

"1) 'Maybe' doesn't specify **anything** , 2) Gotham is the **breeding** **ground** for trigger-happy explosive cons, 3) **Who**. **Asked**. **You**." Batman growled.

"That kid…" Flash replied in a snide tone, "When he patched into the tower's communications, screaming for mercy."

Batman kept his tone at a low as he replied, "What could you possibly do with information on the kid?"

Without hesitation, Flash replied as if he already knew Batman would ask that, "get some sleep at night…" Flash argued further after no response from Batman, "Look, you know my name, who I am… all of it. So you must know about my family…"

Batman cocked an eyebrow under his mask as Flask continued, "That kid… that boy, I heard that night from the watchtower, he sounded the same age as my nephew… but horrified. It's not every day you hear a kid scream like that, not for me anyways… and I'm not like you Bats. I can't just shrug something like this off and call it a day! I haven't gotten a decent nights' rest since that night! And another thing…" his voice inclined.

Batman frowned and interrupted, "Is there a point to this lecture?"

Flash opened his mouth to answer, but instead folded his arms as Batman turned away, "Didn't think so." He growled as he walked down the hall, "get some sleep, you're cranky when you're tired." He murmured just loud enough for Flash to hear.

"Yeah well! … FINE!" Flash yelled, "And I AM NOT **CRANKY**!" attempting a come-back, "… Damn it…" he mumbled under his breath, anger clouding his words.

"Flash?" Green Lantern spoke up as he entered from the other side, cocking an eyebrow at the fact that Flash was even mad, "You look like Tinker Bell…" he stated with a smile on his face, flying over to land by Flash's side.

"Huh?" Flash turned his head, attempting to reduce the steam coming from his ears.

"Your face is all red, almost as red as your suit… like Tinker Bell." He stated again trying not to laugh, "What's wrong?" he asked.

"Oh… Nothing." He turned his head back around to gesture Batman's exit, "Just Bats and **the** **kid** from the warehouse, he won't tell  anyone _anything_ about." He grunted.

"What kid?" Lantern asked.

"Exactly…" Flash grunted, folding his arms in a pout.

Meanwhile, Batman was running out of time before the entire league began to ask questions… 'This wasn't supposed to happen.' He thought, as he continued to walk down the quiet hallway and into the elevator. He pressed a button on the side panel, directing the elevator upwards as the doors closed. He took a deep breath, 'He wasn't supposed to get hurt, and he definitely wasn't supposed to be introduced to the league… not yet anyway. This is all my fault.'

The elevator doors opened, and Batman stalked silently through another hall, passing the occasional league members with questions written on their faces. He ignored them, successfully making his way into the conference room. To his surprise he found Superman, waiting for him.

Batman cocked an eyebrow as he took into note the empty conference room, only the boy scout stood by the large round table, frowning with his arms crossed, "took you long enough." he growled.

"I was busy… where's everyone else?" Batman asked, matching Superman's tone almost perfectly.

"There isn't anyone else…" Superman stated boldly as he stood up straight and unfolded his arms, "this is a private meeting. There's something you and I need to discuss."

Not even the Bat-glare could shake this situation loose, the Kryptonian had that look in his eye: the, two-thoughts-away-from-frying-you-alive look.

Part 4: Scene 2

Dick sat up on a support beam overlooking the main entry way of the manor, swinging his feet back and forth impatiently as he watched the snow fall outside a window above the door. He watched Alfred walk from place to place in his daily chores, as if Bruce's absence didn't phase him at all.

Alfred walked into the entry way with a curious look on his face, scanning the room with his eyes before he called out, "Master Richard?"

Dick smiled, "You can call me 'Dick', Alfred." He said from the ceiling.

Alfred jumped in his skin as he looked upwards, "Good heavens, child…" he said, "What on earth are you doing up there?"

Dick shrugged and took a deep breath, he didn't have to say anything to tell Alfred he was disappointed. Alfred nodded his head in understanding, "Well then… Master 'Dick', I suppose it wouldn't hurt, so long as you don't fall." Dick chuckled under his breath at that thought as Alfred continued, "You have an appointment this afternoon for that arm, I don't believe it to be wise to go breaking it again before it's redeemed of its casting."

Dick nodded, Alfred nodded back. He was stopped from leaving the room at the gentle call of the child, "Alfred…" he said as his feet stopped swinging.

He turned, "Yes, Master Dick."

Dick hesitated a moment before answering, "When is Bruce going to be back?" he asked almost too quiet to hear.

"That is an answer I do not have sir…" Alfred replied, shamefully.

"Well…" Dick paused, "Do you know where he went?" he asked a bit louder, hoping for a decent answer.

"I do not recall obtaining that information, no." he shook his head slightly, he **dreaded** the idea of _lying_ to the child. Dick pulled his feet up and turned to lean against another beam, folding his arms in a pout as Alfred improvised a response, "but I do not believe Master Bruce to be the character to miss the holidays."

"He's missed Christmas before, Al…" Dick murmured.

Alfred cocked an eyebrow, "how did…" he was interrupted by the frustration in Dick's voice.

"Public records say it was for seven years in a row… **seven years**." Dick's eyebrows scrunched together, "he's doing this on purpose isn't he… he's punishing me."

"Master Dick, for what reason do you believe Master Bruce would punish you?" Alfred asked furiously. Having already made the connection to Dick's hacking abilities.

Dick flipped off the beam and slid down the wall, skidding off the side and back flipping onto the ground. Sticking the landing solidly, he turned around and folded his arms, without looking up at the butler. He frowned in attempt to keep tears from his eyes, "It's another lesson…" he started, "He told me not to go with him, I didn't listen… Now he's teaching me not to do it again." He stated calmly.

"Now, Master Dick…" Alfred attempted an unsuccessful intervene as Dick's restraint grew thin.

"I know you've been lying to me Alfred! I know you know where he is and you won't tell me because he told you not to! He told you to lie!" he raised his voice, but shock took over his expression at the realization of his tone. He lowered his head and closed his eyes as his uncased arm fell to the side, "I… I'm sorry Al. I didn't mean…"

Alfred took a deep breath, "It's alright Master Dick, and I can assure you, I…"

Dick looked up and revealed his teary eyes, "No, Al… just, next time you talk to him, could you tell him I've learned my lesson…" He turned to walk up the stairs, looking back over his shoulder as a tear rolled down his cheek, his voice just starting to crack, "I just want him home…" he ran up the stairs almost as fast as tears ran down his face, he locked himself in his room and dove into his bed. He buried his face in his pillow, he was proven unsuccessful to hide his cries as Alfred listened through the door.

"Bruce… What did I do?!" he screamed quietly, "I know you said I couldn't go with you, and I went anyway…" he shook his head in regret, "I remember going away with you… but I don't know where, or why, or what I did to make you mad at me!"

Alfred tried to knock, but his hand wouldn't let him… he just stood there and listened as the boy raged, "But I'm sorry OK! I… I just want you to come home! Please Bruce!" he screamed.

Alfred attempted to swallow the lump in his throat, he pulled his hand away from the door and slowly walked down the stairs with a sense of shame. 'No more' he thought to himself, 'I won't have it anymore'. He walked down the stairs to the cave, he could still hear the faint cries as he locked the entrance. He sat at the computer and started typing, his face growing cross as he pulled up a window on the screen.

"Alfred, Bad time…" Batman's face appeared on the screen, crouching over it like he was looking at his wrist.

"Yes, indeed. The timing hasn't been at its best lately." He agreed in a straight face, sarcastically.

Batman looked around in caution, then back down, "What is it Alfred?" he demanded.

"Master Dick has put the idea in his head that your absence is a form of punishment. He believes you are teaching him a lesson, sir." He stated in disapproval.

Batman swore under his breath, "How bad?"

"Worse…" he replied. "He has begun to use fragments of his nightmares to piece together what happened that night. He remembers being able to Stoll away on your car, and he believes the encounter was accompanied by the Joker." There was a slight pause before Alfred continued, "He WILL remember what happened that night, I fear sooner rather than later… the only thing that could make this experience less traumatizing than it already is, would be your presents."

Batman narrowed his eyes, "I can't leave yet Alfred… The league is starting to ask questions, a lot of questions. If I disappear now it will only encourage them." He stated.

"Is the sake of your reputation at the tower more important…" Alfred asked in disapproval.

"Alfred…" Batman's voice showed frustration, "This is an impossible situation. But if we play our cards right, it won't have to be. I just need time." He demanded.

Batman's eyes widened and he closed the screen before Alfred could reply. Alfred just stood from the chair, taking a deep breath he walked away. Mumbling under his breath, "If we hadn't drawn the cards, we wouldn't have to play them."

Part 4: Scene 3

"So who were you talkin' to?" Flash came around the corner with his hands on his hips.

Batman narrowed his eyes as Flash went on, "wouldn't happen to have anything to do with **the kid** would it?" he asked in a snide tone.

Batman took a breath of frustration, "It's admirable how you make yourself a part of everything you come across." Batman pointed out in sarcasm.

"Really?" Flash's face lit up.

"No." Flash pouted and folded his arms in Batman's response, "Just pointing out how annoying it is to have an ignorant character, assuming his position in everyone else's business."

Flash frowned, "Hey… I" he started to raise his voice, but was interrupted by Martian Manhunter's intercom.

"Batman, Flash! Report to the bridge, immediately!" He commanded.

Flash unfolded his arms and pointed at Batman, "I'm not done!"

Batman walked calmly past Flash and growled, "Yes, you are." He called down the hall.

Flash rolled his eyes, "Ignorant, character…" he mumbled under his breath and started to _walk_ away.

By the time Flash got to the bridge, the meeting had already started. Flash walked into a grouping of Batman, Wonder Woman, Superman, Green Lantern, Hawk Girl, Aqua Man, and Martian Manhunter. All standing around a screen with a map, listening as the Martian spoke in front of the crowd.

"We'll have to act fast, this isn't a matter to be taken lightly. We'll split into teams." Martian Manhunter stated, turning to Superman.

"Green Lantern, Hawk Girl, and Manhunter, you'll go with me." Superman addressed in a loud and clear tone, "Batman: you'll lead Wonder Woman, Aqua Man, and… Flash?" he looked up at the just entering speedster, as did the rest of the leaguers.

"Flash, where were you? It's been almost 8 minutes since J'onn called us." Wonder Woman asked from across the room as she flew over to land beside him.

Flash frowned, "Didn't feel like light speed." He answered in a sarcastic snap.

"Feelings are no excuse for ignorance… You missed the mission assignment." Hawk Girl stated from the other side of the room.

"Flash, what's wrong?" Diana asked, placing a hand on Flash's shoulder.

"Nothing!" he pushed away, folding his arms, "I'm Fine!" he shouted.

"Then act like it." Batman demanded as he turned back to Superman and started in a serious pitch, "Flash will go with Wonder Woman and Aqua Man, I have other matters to attend to." He stated.

"Such as?" Lantern interrupted, cocking an eyebrow.

Batman turned to Green Lantern and frowned, "Other matters, in Gotham."

Flash cocked an eyebrow, "Imagine that…" Flash mumbled under his breath.

The attention of the leaguers was then put to Flash, he looked up at Batman and snapped, "Another convenient problem in Gotham city that demands your attention. Have anything to do with the **warehouse explosion**?" he shot the words over the group of heroes as they all turned to look at Batman.

"What **warehouse explosion**?" Superman asked.

"Wait…" Lantern interrupted, "All I heard about was a **kid** and a **warehouse** , now there's an explosion?" Lantern folded his arms in disbelief.

" **Kid**? This is the first I've heard of any of this." Aqua Man spoke up.

Diana began to slouch her head down as the questions kept coming, she looked at Batman with worried eyes and he shook his head.

" **Kid, warehouse, explosion.** What's going on?" Hawk Girl added, counting to 3 on her fingers.

"I was notified of no such occurrences, or subjects… Batman?" Martian Manhunter spoke as he turned to the Dark Knight.

'What Kid?', 'a warehouse exploded?', 'What does Batman have to do with a kid?', 'Batman blew up a warehouse?' the questions hovered over the justice league faster than they would over a high school classroom.

"Enough!" Batman shouted, grabbing the silent attention of every leaguer in the room.

"Look Bats…" Flash spoke up, "We're all on the same team, you have to tell us what happened sooner or later…"

"I don't _have_ to do _anything_. I'm a part-timer remember, and as far as the justice league is concerned, it was a personal matter, that's how it's going to stay." Batman stated demandingly, a few moments of silence swept every corner of the room.

Flash's face showed an amount of anger large enough to erupt a volcano, steam came out of his ears and his face turned red as he stared down the Dark Knight.

Martian Manhunter cleared his throat, "about the injustice league…" he turned to address the map over Metropolis.

Flash interrupted with a shout, "You know what Bats?!" Batman narrowed his eyes from the Bat-glare, "Maybe it's best I sit this one out… wouldn't want my _ignorance_ assuming its way into anyone's business." Flash calmed his tone a bit as he turned to walk out of the room, "Flash out." He stormed off.

The leaguers turned to Batman with confusion, Diana looked pale as if about to faint. Hawk Girl broke the silence after a few seconds, "What the hell just happened?!" she addressed the Dark Knight, starting to walk towards him with frustration, "Anything you Wanna confess?"

Batman didn't turn to look at Hawk Girl as she stopped to stand beside him, "Not to you." He replied, turning past her to Martian Manhunter, "I'm in." he stated as Hawk Girl frowned.

"What about your 'other matters' in Gotham?" Green Lantern asked in sarcasm.

"It can wait, Metropolis can't." he paused before continuing, "Have we managed to identify how many members of the injustice league are at the crisis?"

"5: Luther, Poison Ivy, Shade, Toy Maker, and Joker." Martian Manhunter replied, stretching his fingers over the keyboard to type, "We've located several motorized mechanical devices, robots. They appear to be unintelligent, and only interested in destruction. I have not yet discovered a pattern to their rampages, but they are of the Toy Maker's doing."

"Ok then…" Lantern spoke up, "Let's go break some toys."

Part 4: Scene 4

The room was quiet, encased in the 'hospital' feeling. That thought that someone had just died in the room next to you bounced around the back of your mind, all you could do was swing your feet back and forth. They hit the edge of the examination bed on rhythm, thumping at the plastic sheeting and making it crinkle.

THUD. THUD. THUD. THUD.

Back and forth, his feet smacked the side of the plastic covered bed. The silence was numbed by Alfred's hand on his shoulder, but not entirely broken until the door swung open, and his feet suddenly stopped.

"Sorry for the wait Mr.… uh…" he stumbled over his words, Dick flinched at the door closing.

"Wayne." Alfred replied, "Richard Wayne." He said.

'Funny…' Dick thought to himself, he almost said Grayson.

"Ok, Wayne…" he finished flipping through his clipboard and set it on the counter, "My name is Dr. Anderson, and today…" he sat down on a stool with wheels on the bottom and rolled closer to the bed, "we're gonna have a look at that arm. How's that sound?" his smile was just convincing enough for Dick to trust it, but Dick hadn't been shy often. This was a new feeling, one he didn't like.

He looked up at Alfred who stood by the bedside for an answer, when nothing was said, his head followed his eyes as they trailed back to the eager doctor, "Ok…" he said in a soft voice.

Anderson nodded with a plastered smile, it looked like it had been stuck there for days, yet, still had a sense of freshness to it. Dick examined the doctor before the doctor could examine him, "Ok…" Anderson said, turning away to open a drawer. He pulled on a pair of gloves as he continued talking, "I'm going to give you a mild …" his words seems to have blurred as Dick drifted into his thoughts.

'Ring on his left hand, married. Newly wed, 3 maybe 4 years. Either he's excited to be at work because his newborn is more exhausting, or he REALLY likes his job. First time father probably, or first year at the new job… nope, he's a father. Definitely a first time father.'

"Richard?" he said, pulling Dick from his thoughts.

"Hm?" he replied, noticing the wipe in Anderson's right hand.

"You spaced out for a minute… you alright?" he asked.

Dick nodded as Anderson continued, "Ok, this is a mild sanative…" he explained, raising the cloth to Dick's left arm above the end of the cast, near his shoulder. He wiped it clean and tossed the cloth, reaching to the counter behind him he pulled a small syringe from the counter top, "It should numb your arm for rewrapping… Ok?" he asked, lifting the needle to Dick's arm.

"Needles don't scare me." Dick stated briefly, Alfred attempted to bite back a chuckle.

"Ok…" the doctor nodded, trying to spit out words, "that's, good… that's good." He pulled the needle out of Dick's shoulder and placed it on a tray, "now… in a few minutes, you'll lose feeling in your fingers. Don't worry, you're supposed to." Although Dick wasn't scared, Anderson's reassurance made him feel a bit less like someone had died in the room next to him.

"Why does my arm need to be rewrapped?" Dick asked curiously.

"Well…" Anderson started slowly, "seems how your arm was broken in two places, it's been a lot harder to keep a straight line for your bones to heal on. What we need to do, is gently… kind of, push, your arm back in a straight line so it can heal properly." He said, attempting to explain this to a 9 year old.

"Does that mean I've moved it?" Dick asked again, question painted on his face.

"No… you see, when we casted your arm the first time, we already knew it would need to be rewrapped before it healed all the way." Anderson explained.

"Ok…" Dick said, indicating he was satisfied with the answer. He wasn't, but by now he figured he wasn't going to get a decent answer from Anderson. He moved to the next topic, "What's your wife's name?" he asked, grabbing the surprise of Dr. Anderson at a full.

Unsure of what to say, "I… Lily. Her name is Lily." He nodded, with confusion on his face, "How… How did you…"

"The ring on your finger… it means you're married." Dick pointed out, "How long?" he asked.

"Uh... 4 years, in February." Anderson replied. He turned back to reach into another drawer, pulling out a cast blade. In a split second, Dick saw his reflection in the blade, but then he saw Joker's. His eyes widened and his heart raced, the hair on his neck stood so fast it seemed it was ready to fly away.

Dick saw Joker's face, heard his voice, felt his cuts. He was there. He watched it all happen again. In front of him lay his body, surrounded by his own blood. Then he saw the Joker bend his arm backwards, dislocating it, as if the two bone fractures weren't enough. He watched one of the henchman smash a hammer down on his left hand, breaking it in multiple places. He watched everything happen again. He watched himself scream over the intercom for Bruce, he watched himself pass out from the feeling of blood loss, he watched Joker escape and leave him on the ground to die, he watched Batman revive him, he watched Wonder Woman fly him to the hospital, he watched himself wake-up, he watched himself be sucked back into reality.

"We were married on Valentine's day, Lily and I." Anderson continued, he raised his left hand to the cast on Dick's arm, holding the blade in the other, "Ok Richard… I'm going to cut your cast off, you're not going to be able to feel anything so don't panic, Ok?"

Dick gulped, now sweating, realizing quickly where he was, "Ok…" he said, trying to control his nerves.

Dick tried to listen to Anderson as he spoke, but his thoughts took over. All he could think about was that night, how it all made sense now. His arm was supposed to be numb, but his body temperature burned it off quickly. He felt the cast being cut open, he felt it being removed, he felt the repositioning, and the rewrapping. The feeling of a bone that wasn't fully healed didn't even phase him, it should have hurt like hell, but it didn't. His memories hurt worse.

It seemed like only a few minutes had passed when Dick finally looked up at the clock. A half-an-hour had passed, and Anderson was just finishing the rewrapping.

"… and that's how I knew I wanted to be a pediatrician." Anderson finished off, Dick was somehow able to hear everything Anderson had said. Anderson wrapped the last part of Dick's arm with a smile, Dick looked at his arm and back at the doctor.

"Thank you, Dr. Anderson." He said quietly.

"Sure thing bud, you should expect some tingling in your fingertips within a few hours." He looked up at Alfred from the stool, "… and you'll contact me immediately if anything changes?"

Alfred nodded, "Absolutely, thank you Dr. Anderson." He put his hand on Dick's shoulder.

Dick jumped from the bed onto the floor and took Alfred's hand, they walked in silence to the desk where Alfred signed multiple papers and forms. The ride home was once again silent, in every area except Dick's mind, where he replayed every image, every scream, every feeling in his memories. It hurt.

The car came to a stop and Alfred made his way around the car to Dick's door, he started to open it and Dick jumped out before it was opened all the way. Within less than a second, Alfred found himself hugging the small boy tightly as rivers formed from his eyes.

"It was awful Alfred! It was AWFUL!" he screamed, burying his face in Alfred's arms.

"My, my. Master Dick, what was awful?" he asked, thinking about the rewrapping of the cast.

Dick looked up from Alfred's arms, trying to stop his tears as he spoke, "It all makes sense now… I, I mean. Everything, makes sense. The Joker, my scars, why Bruce left, all of it!"

"Shhhh, slow down Master Dick…" Alfred ruffled the boy's hair as his cheeks became stained with tears, "tell me what happened..."

"I… I…" he sniffled and tried to regain control of his breath, "I remember."


	5. The Boy in the Mask

Part 5: Scene 1

"Oh dear…" were the only words allowed to slip from Alfred's mouth. His thoughts escaped him, any knowledge of how to handle the situation alluded him in every degree. All he could do was hold the child as he cried, attempting to breathe and form words in between wails and sobs.

"It was awful Alfred… I, I saw it all… again and again… and again! He won't let me sleep! He keeps talking to me… and, and cutting…"

"Shhh…" Alfred attempted to stop that last sentence as he tried to wipe tears from the boy's sweaty cheeks.

Dick sat up from the covers and gripped the sheets of the bed tight enough to squeeze the life out of them, this would be the third time tonight he's tried to sleep, and the third time he's woken up in a scream. It's been almost a week since he remembered. The nightmares are back, but this rime in detail. Every sound, smell, touch, and last breath is repeated on a constant loop, **every single night.** Dick couldn't help but blame himself for Bruce's absence.

It was a form of punishment, him being gone, but not for Dick… For Joker. "He went after him didn't he!? That's why he left, to get that man… Joker! He left because Joker hurt me!" he screamed, trying to breathe.

"Master Dick…" again, the words escaped him… he tried to continue, but Dick spoke first.

"And… and now he could be hurt too! Bruce left and now… now he could be hurt! And… And… It's all my f… Fault!" Dick wailed again, his blue sapphire eyes blurred over with tears, "Make it stop Alfred! J… Just make it stop!" he buried his face in the butler's arms, calming his voice to a low whispered cry, "Bring him back Alfred… Please, just bring him back…"

As the hours passed, so did Alfred's patients. Without any sleep from the previous occasion, Alfred sat at the bat computer with an expression of uncertainty. Typing slowly as he second guessed himself, finally he stood and hardened his face. This was going to happen, "Zeta beam…" he called out to the monitor, turning around, "Bat cave to Watch Tower please." He said out loud with a clear tone.

A flash of light, and the Bat cave was empty, the butler was gone.

One week earlier:

"When I said we should break some toys, I didn't think it would be this easy…" Lantern pointed out. He hovered above a slowly growing pile of broken robot parts as he brought more debris in from the sides, "I mean, I'm not _complaining_ or anything, but that was a bit too easy." Another load of robot parts fell onto the pile from above Lantern, he looked up and saw Wonder Woman, just after dropping several pieces and parts on the pile.

"I'm with Lantern on this one…" she dusted off her hands, slowly descending to land next to the Dark Knight, "The injustice league has hit harder before… Something's off." She suggested.

Batman glared, scanning the streets of Metropolis for activity, "Maybe this wasn't a hit." He grunted. His eyes narrowed as he walked towards an undamaged building a few yards from the robot pile, "It had to be an ice cream shop…" he mumbled under his breath as he entered the silent joyful structure.

"Ok, that was creepy… even for Batman." Lantern stopped lifting robot parts and stared at the shop, cocking an eyebrow, "Since when does he like Ice cream?"

"Since when does he like anything…?" Wonder Woman replied, turning to walk past Lantern, "Come on, clean up duty goes faster when we actually, clean."

Lantern grunted under his breath as he lifted up more scattered parts and dropped them in that pile, "Bats is _supposed_ to be helping…"

But Batman was occupied, he spotted movement inside the dark shop, movement worth investigating. As soon as the door shut, a chill was sent through the room… not enough to phase the Dark Knight, but to be detected as such… Someone was in here.

He moved past the arrangement of tables in the storefront, over the front counter, behind the kitchen wall. He found a chilled room, refrigerated, with a steel counter at the center, surrounded by multiple circular tub like containers in the surfaces around the walls, perhaps to hold ice cream.

"You're losing your touch…" said a male voice from the corner, only his breath visible through the shadows.

Batman turned his head without a change in expression, "You're losing your theatricality…"

"Oooh, I thought the whole warehouse/kid thing was dramatic enough… besides, I managed to get your attention, didn't I? How is the little brat these days… trouble sleeping?" The voice replied with an inclined tone, as if smiling.

Batman snapped around and grabbed the man by his collar, flinging him up against the wall and causing a loud crash to echo through the outside streets. Within a split second, Batman had a blade to his throat, his feet above the ground, and fear in his eyes, "Give me one good reason I shouldn't gut you where you stand, Joker." He growled fiercely.

The character only chuckled sarcastically, "Hm hm hm… I'm not standing, soon we'll have that in common." He grinned as he thrust his hand forward, stabbing something into Batman's side. Batman's quick reflexes would have stopped it before it got there, but today, they had to do with just pulling out whatever stabbed him at close to lightning speed.

Batman held Joker to the wall with one hand while the other held the small, pointy object. It was a syringe. His eyes narrowed as they darted back to the evil grin, "What did you just do?" Batman demanded in a low growl.

"I told you… losing your touch." He laughed hysterically, "Is that why you had a friend? Training a new pet to do your tricks, without telling me?"

Within seconds, Lantern and Wonder Woman found themselves paused with their chores, staring at the ice cream shop from the street, attempting to fathom what could cause such loud, disturbing crashes and bangs.

Lantern cocked an eyebrow, "What? They didn't have his flavor?"

Dana frowned, "Let's go." She demanded, thrusting towards the entrance to the small building.

Lantern followed as they entered with caution, before they could scan the room completely, Joker's beat body landed on the floor in front of them. They both flinched looking up at the Dark Knight as he arose from the shadows.

"You missed one…" Batman growled, Joker groaned and shifted around on the floor, attempting to stand.

"Isn't that what clean-up duty's for?" Lanterns ring lit up as he spoke down at the Joker, "I suggest you stay down." He said.

Joker fell solidly back on the floor, leaving every attempt to return to his feet. Diana squinted her eyes at the sight of sweat on Batman's cheeks and chin, "Batman?" she asked.

With every attempt not to, Batman swayed from side to side uncontrollably trying to regain his balance, "I… I'm…" Without success, he collapsed behind Joker's bruised body. Joker smiled.

"Batman!" Diana called out, rushing to the side of Batman's weakened body.

Joker laughed under the crunch of a sore chest, coughing in between, "I warned you…" he chuckled once more before Lantern knocked him over the head with a green club, Joker was silenced.

"Batman?!" Diana shouted again, now on her knees shaking Batman's arm as he lay still. His muscles seemed instantly drained, a paleness came over his face, a coldness over his entire body.

He struggled to keep his eyes open as he lifted his right hand to Diana in a fist, dropping the syringe in her cupped hands. Diana imprisoned the syringe in her grip as she reached up to her ear, "Wonder Woman to Watch Tower! We need help!" she yelled over her intercom.

"What is the crisis?" Martian Manhunter said in a calm, serious tone.

"J'onn!" She watched Batman's eyes finally close, she lifted him up from behind by his arms, "Batman's down! Bring us up!" she turned towards Lantern and took her hand off her earpiece, "John, Take care of him." She gestured Joker's passed out body.

Lantern opened his mouth, but with a flash of light, Wonder Woman and Batman where gone, "I… OK… I guess I got this one." He said to himself in somewhat disappointment, "Must have been **some** ice cream…"

Present Day:

The hour was early, dark, and quiet. The Halls of the Watch Tower accompanied by few… the window however, the window accompanied by Wonder Woman. The window between walls, one side of the wall chill and stiff, the other occupied a worried face.

Alfred appeared on the bridge, he took a deep breath at the sight of the empty area. He walked on. Down the hall, in the elevator, to the 7th floor, through another silent hall… and to the Med Bay. The shock of seeing Bruce in a hospital bed had mellowed over, Alfred's look of surprise was due to the sight of Wonder Woman at the window, at nearly 6am.

Alfred proceeded to stand by Diana's side, looking through the window at Bruce's bed, "Morning miss Prince." He greeted her.

Diana turned her head, "Alfred… What are you, I've never seen you all the way out here before… I…"

Alfred cleared his throat, Diana paused and smiled, "Good morning Alfred." She finished.

"I never had to come all the way out here before…" he said with a smile on his face, "What might you be doing here at this hour?"

Diana shook her head, "I'm watching him, everything is the same, whatever he was injected with almost stopped his heart. We were able to stabilize him, but I fear it is only postponing. He hasn't been able to breathe on his own since…" she took a deep breath, "I shouldn't have let him go in there alone."

Alfred reacted almost instantly to the tone, "Diana Prince, this is not your doing."

"How did Joker even get there? He fled before the fight started." She explained, "I could have done something…"

"You did…" Alfred insisted, "You saved his life… Whatever Joker gave him was designed to kill him, so, I am thankful for what you did." Diana smiled lightly before opening her mouth to argue, Alfred returned the smile but held up his hand to prevent her from speaking, "So is Richard…"

Alfred turned away from the window towards the door to the room, stopping just before entering at Diana's words, "How is he? Richard?" she asked quietly.

Alfred nodded, "That is the matter of which I came, I must speak with Bruce about the boy's… development." He paused to make sure no one else was around before continuing, "He remembers…"

Shock filled Diana's eyes as she attempted to gather her words, "…everything…" she asked.

"Including a faint image of a dark haired woman, that got him to the hospital." Alfred nodded, the expression of sadness on his face, "He too, blames himself for the recent occurrences."

"Hera…" slipped from Diana's mouth before she could stop herself, the blank expression of pure shock spread from her eyes and flood the rest of her face, "what now?" she looked at the ground, almost lost in thought.

"Now… I speak to Bruce." Alfred stated.

"You can't…" Diana turned to look through the window at Bruce, "He's not conscious, he won't hear you…"

"He doesn't have to…" Alfred gave a warm smile before leaving Diana at the window. She couldn't hear anything, but she watched as the butler sat in the chair next to the bed. Words left Alfred's mouth and bounced between the walls, he didn't say much, he didn't have to.

Part 5: Scene 2

The snow screamed as it zipped from every direction. Dick sat at the Robin Window by the kitchen and listened to the wind beat against every corner of the manor, he rest his right arm on the seal, propping his chin up at the iced over glass. He glances over at the wall clock, 10:00am. Still, no robin at the window.

He takes a deep breath before returning to a steady pulse, almost too quiet to hear. He didn't turn around when he heard Alfred's footsteps enter the kitchen. He didn't have to see Alfred's face to know what he was going to say.

"Master Dick… It's been nearly four hours, you must be…" Alfred started, attempting to pull the boy away from the window.

"No thank you, not hungry." Dick interrupted in a stiff voice.

"You hardly touched your breakfast this morning…" Dick sighed as he simply stared out at the icy madness, Alfred thought for a second before retrying, "I'm heading into town for dinner supplies, perhaps you would like to…"

"No thank you…" Dick interrupted again, his voice too soft to be angry, "Be careful on the roads, Al."

"I always am sir…" Alfred replied, saddening his eyes at no response from the boy. Alfred cleared his throat, "Well then, I shall return shortly… be safe, master Dick."

Dick closed his eyes at the sound of the door closing, he listened to the car gently disappear from his ears. He took in another deep breath before flinging his eyes open, he stood quickly, forcing the chair to skid backwards away from his straightened feet.

He didn't stay long enough to make sure the chair didn't fall over to crash against the floor, with faster footsteps than he had used all week, he was at the entrance to the cave. His eyes filled with determination as he descended the stairs, he calculated 47 free minutes to get what he needed… all he had to do was hack the bat computer, he took a deep breath, " _Piece of cake_." He said to himself.

"Ok, Bruce…" he pulled his fingers over the keyboard and started typing with his one free hand, "Where are you?"

His eyes dashed around different corners of the screen as he sifted through files and records, mostly public activity. But that wasn't good enough, he started to find his way through the bat cave's records, finding Zeta activity within the past week.

"What's a **Zeta Beam**?" he said out loud, scanning the blue prints of the machine, "it's a _teleportation_ device, but… no one was here except me and Alfred 3 days ago. Why did it go online?"

His fingers seemed to not be able to keep up with themselves, almost tripping over each other as Dick's thought process sped up. Typing with one hand proved to be a little more time consuming.

"5:48 am, Wednesday. This _'Zeta Beam'_ took someone from here to a place called, **'the Watch Tower'**." He pulled up blue prints of the watch tower, his eyes widened in shock and he stopped typing, "It had to be in space… I bet that's where Bruce is, why else would Alfred go there? It had to be Alfred, right?" he questioned out loud, reaching back over the keys and pulling up any records involving the Watch Tower.

He scanned many pages on the screen, pulling up more and more until finally, a security tape. He saw Alfred sitting next to a hospital bed, with Bruce in it. He wasn't bandaged or anything, he didn't look like anything was wrong with him, aside from the oxygen input and how pale he was.

"No…" Dick's expression went from determined to tears. He pressed a button aside from the main keyboard, queuing the audio. He listened to Alfred's voice carefully, Alfred was telling Bruce about Dick's nightmares… and his memories.

"He lied… this whole time, he knew. And he didn't say anything." His eyes narrowed as he closed the tape and started typing again, "I'm going to find you Bruce. I'm coming." He stated, returning his voice back to a serious tone.

He pulled up medical files from the Watch Tower's Med Bay, he found Bruce's… and more.

"Flash, Hawk Girl, Green Lantern, Aqua man, Green Arrow, Martian Manhunter, Red Tornado, Wonder Woman… Superman. Batman works alone. What is he doing at a Justice league H.Q…. wounded?" he asked himself, pulling up personal files on everyone in the Justice League. Including their powers, and weaknesses.

"Got ya." He started to print out multiple pages from the computer, including blue prints of the Watch Tower. He stopped typing to scan the rest of the cave, the bats scratched the roof as the stirred around the darkness. His eyes stopped at the uniform case, narrowing as he stood from the chair.

He flipped over the rails to the computer deck and ran towards the casing, cocking an eye brow as he opened it. He pulled a small black domino mask from behind the main display, he smiled as he held it in his hand. It was defiantly too small for Bruce, and he already had a cowl, "I guess he didn't like the ski mask idea."

Dick put the mask on the table by the computer deck rails as he climbed back up and over, retrieving the papers from the side panel. He lay each paper out on the table and studied them carefully, retrieving gadgets and toys from around the cave having finished each profile. Before he was done, he realized he'd exceeded the time he estimated Alfred would be gone, almost an hour had passed.

He grabbed one of Batman's extra belts and began to fill it, shuffling the papers into one pile and scrambling any evidence he'd been there away. He packet his 'project' upstairs to his room, where he wouldn't need an excuse to disappear to.

'I'll leave tonight, when Al's asleep…' he decided, 'That way, no one will expect me. I can save Bruce and leave, without hurting anyone. And with any luck, I won't even have to use this.' He thought, setting the utility belt on the pillow of his bed, next to the ruffled papers.

Almost on que, the door to the manor swung open gently, closing a few seconds after. Dick froze instantly and listened to Alfred carry bags from the entry way into the kitchen, "Master Dick!" Alfred called out.

"I'm up here Al!" Dick replied.

"Just checking sir… Would you care for some lunch?" Alfred asked from the bottom of the stairs.

"No thank you, not hungry." Dick replied from behind his closed door.

"Alright…" Alfred replied in disbelief.

Dick listened to Alfred walk away from the stairs, he let out a breath of relief before turning around to gaze at his papers, "Ok…" he said to himself, "Let's get Bruce back."

Dick spent hours up in his room, reviewing the contents of his belt, studying every personal file and blueprint he had. Thinking through every step of his plan. Before he knew it, 8:00pm had rolled around, and Alfred had dinner ready.

 **KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK**

"Master Dick?" Alfred's voice crept slowly through the gently opening door of Dick's room.

Dick's heart raced and he reacted instantly. Before Alfred could open the door all the way, Dick managed to hide everything under the covers of his bed. He laid down on top of his bed and stared at the ceiling, just in time from Alfred to enter.

"Master Dick… I have prepared your supper, it is…" Alfred started, opening the door all the way and stepping inside.

"I'm not hungry Al…" Dick interrupted rudely, in attempt to shoo the butler away.

"Now you haven't eaten hardly anything all day, for the past week… perhaps if you just…" Alfred started again, only to be interrupted.

"I said I don't want it Al!" Dick shouted, turning to his side to look at the darkened window, "Go away…" the thought of yelling at Alfred like that wasn't the most pleasant, but it was efficient.

It only took a few minutes for the humble butler to vacate, leaving the boy alone in the dark room. He closed the door slowly, taking a deep breath. His sadness seeped through the closed door and found its way into Dick's thoughts.

'my my…" Alfred thought, 'it's happening all over again, isn't it… and once again, I have no control over it.' He proceeded to dispose of the uneaten food before going to bed early, little did he know, that made matters a bit easier for Dick.

'Ok Dick…' he stayed laying in the bed for a while before glancing at the clock, '11:00pm, Al should be out by now…' he lifted his head to glance out the window, the white snow illuminated the ground as it continued to fall. Even without the moonlight, it looked brighter than usual, 'let's do this!'

He jumped up from his bed and shuffled the papers together with one hand, having memorized them, he stuck them in a drawer in his desk. He grabbed his jacket he got from Haley's circus. His parents had ones just like it, except theirs had a 'J' and 'M' sewn into the upper left chest, his had an 'R' for Richard. He hadn't worn it in a while, and it was mostly black with dark red highlights, he figured it would be better than a white T-shirt for hiding in the shadows.

He didn't however, put on the black domino mask until he managed to sneak back into the bat cave. He carried the belt with him until he got to the computer, it was too big to around his waist, so he wrapped it over his left shoulder and down around his waist.

He stretched his hand over the keys and started typing, again it took longer with one hand, "Ok? This is different…" he said out loud, cocking an eyebrow at the screen, "according to this, all I have to do is…" he cleared his throat before continuing, "uh… Zeta Beam? Bat cave to Watch Tower."

With no response, Dick huffed, "Darn…" he turned back to the keyboard and started typing, "Stupid teleportation device, it's probably voice sensitive… I'll just have to… There!" he said in relief pulling away from the keys, "OK…" he took a deep breath and put on the black domino mask, pulling a pair of bulky black gloves over his hands. (Somehow managing to get one over his casted hand)

He reached over, and with the press of a button, a flash of light stole the boy from the bat cave. And everything was quiet.

Part 5: Scene 3

Flash sat in the chair across from the bed, he rubbed his hands together impatiently as the minutes passed. He looked up at Bruce, who lay silently in the bed, and stood.

He didn't get closer to Bruce's bed, he stood across from it near the opposing wall. He took a deep breath before breaking the unbearable silence, "Ok Buddy!" he started sarcastically, "all of our super-cool medical scanner stuff didn't pick up anything wrong with you… your pulse is a little weak, and you can't breathe on your own, but that's nothin' a little caffeine won't fix! So what do you say? Let's wake up, and stop being sick. Doesn't that sound fun?!" he shouted, over exaggerating an open-mouth smile.

Soon enough though, his smile was lost. He dropped his hands to his sides after removing his cowl, "Ok… Look Bats." He said out loud, as if expecting Bruce to answer, "I'm sorry ok… I know you keep to yourself, I know I don't want to know most of your secret life in Gotham." He put his hands up in surrender as he continued, "And I know, none of this is any of my business, the kid just got me… you know."

Flash glanced at the empty window, he didn't expect anyone to be here at this late hour, but he had to look and make sure before continuing. He looked back at Bruce and closed his eyes, "I overstepped… a lot, and, I shouldn't have. Kids were always kind of like my soft spot, even before I had powers… so hearing one scream like that…" he paused, "I don't know… I guess it just through me off, and it won't happen again… just, please Bats. You gotta…"

Before Flash could finish, the alarm screamed and stopped him mid-sentence.

"Intruder Alert! Intruder Alert!" the room went dark and dim red lights came flashing around every inch of the room.

"Ohhh. Come on, it had to be now?!" Flash pulled his cowl back over his head and sped towards the door, but something stopped him.

Dick appeared on the bridge, he fell to his knees attempting to regain control of his breath, gasping in shock of realizing what just happened, "Ok… OK, Ok, OK!" he shouted, darting to the side of the room and escaping into the nearest air vents.

"Cameras and alert systems." He said to himself, pulling out his blue print of the watch tower.

"Intruder Alert! Intruder Alert!" the alarm echoed through the vents as Dick struggled to crawl through on one hand, he stopped at an exit and kicked the vent free. He dropped from the vent, landing in the control center he darted for the nearest key board. Stretching his hand over the keys and narrowing his eyes, only a few minutes past before the red lights and the alarms were silenced.

He left the lights out and hacked into the secondary security systems, giving him the advantage as far as shadows go. He pulled a flash drive from his belt and plugged it into the console, downloading control of the heat, motion, and sound sensors placed throughout the tower.

"Didn't plan on the Alarms…" he said to himself, wiping sweat from his forehead. He placed the drive back in his belt and pressed another button, "…and, cameras are out, communications are down. They'll be looking for whoever set off the alarm, how about they start with… the 5th floor." His little fingers zoomed over the keys faster than his eyes could scan the screen, he smiled a little before continuing to congratulate himself, "Alright." His hand stopped typing and he viewed the screen, "I'm in multiple places at once… Good job Grayson."

He left the darkened screen to pull himself back up into the vent, "I'm coming Bruce…" he said to himself again, trying to crawl one handedly down the vent.

"Flash!" Diana called, flying over to land by Flash's side in the bridge. He stood at the main computer, typing slowly as he tried to remember what he was doing. He concentrated on the keys as Wonder Woman continued, "Flash what happened?"

"What did you do?!" Hawk Girl shouted before Flash could answer, flying up from below to join Wonder Woman.

"Nothing I…" he cleared his throat and turned around, "hey, why do you always assume it was ME who did something?" he pointed his thumb at his chest as he frowned.

"Doesn't matter." Martian Manhunter interrupted, seeping up through the floor and taking over the keyboard, "Someone is in the tower, and they have delayed our security systems…"

"Not all of them." Flash interrupted with somewhat of an excited tone, "Motion sensors say he's on the 5th floor."

"That's impossible, heat sensors say he's on the 7th floor!" Hawk Girl shouted.

"Fine then…" Martian Manhunter turned around to Flash, "You take the 5th floor, Hawk Girl the 7th floor." He demanded.

"Why does this feel like punishment?" Flash whined, Martian Manhunter and Hawk Girl frowned and Flash raised his arms in surrender, "OK. Right, I'll just… yeah." He zoomed away as Hawk Girl started towards the stairs.

Martian Manhunter turned back to the computer and started typing. "J'onn…" Diana spoke up, "Can you sense anyone else here…" she asked.

"I can feel another's pain, I cannot find their mind as I do not know yet what I am looking for… but I feel an excess of, determination." He paused, "this could very well be a revenge mission, for what I do not know."

"There has to be more than one intruder, you can't find any of them?" She continued in question.

"I do not believe there are multiple strangers here…" he stopped typing and widened his eyes at the screen, "our security systems have been downloaded, whoever is here is sending the entire league in opposite directions… he's spreading us out."

Before Diana could say anything else, Martian Manhunter threw his hand to his ear and shouted, "Flash! Hawk Girl!" but not even static came through.

Flash appeared in the center of the cafeteria area, he started to walk around and scan for any abnormal activity. He wondered his way into the kitchen, he was startled at first when he saw Superman in the shadows, "Hey big man." Flash started with enthusiasm.

"Where were you?" Superman barked immediately, turning around to glare at the speedster, "I've been trying to reach you since the Alarms went off!"

"Hey!" Flash started, calming his voice, "communications must have been tampered with as well." Superman cocked an eyebrow, signaling Flash to explain further, "Someone's infiltrated the tower, they've managed to fry our security systems and it looks like communications are down too… oh man, and I just fixed those!" Flash folded his arms in a pout as Superman turned back around.

He scanned through every wall on the 5th floor with his X-ray vision, narrowing his eyes before he spoke, "There's no one down here." He stated.

Flash continued his tantrum, counting on his fingers as he named off everything the intruder managed to tamper with, "Great! First, the alarms, then, the communications, now the motion sensors?! I might as well just take the whole tower apart and rebuild the entire stinkin' thing!"

Superman rolled his eyes listening to Flash complain, but then his eyes lit up with thought, "That's not a bad idea. Come on, whoever this guy is had to use a computer to tamper with the systems. We'll start with the control rooms."

"Good idea…" Flash grunted, speeding ahead he shouted, "I'll get the North side you get the South side!"

Superman chuckled under his breath as he started to fly towards the stairs, "There is no North or South in space."

Dick stopped to wipe the sweat from his bro, pausing for a half a breath as he crawled through the vents. His pulse was under control, not breathing too heavily, he was still silent as he kicked open another exit and dropped from the vent. He landed crunched close to the ground, he froze to listen for any movement. When all was quiet, he darted for the elevator.

He pried the keypad of the elevator open and pulled the drive from his belt, plugging it into the exposed keypad. He pulled a small square, box like form from his belt. He opened the slim top and rotated it right-side-up, revealing a 2-inch x 2-inch screen with a keypad. He glanced at the drive as he crouched by the elevator doors, looking back at the mini-computer he started typing with his thumb.

A few seconds passed before the elevator door slid open. He grabbed the drive and closed the computer, putting them both back in his belt. The elevator doors stayed open as he knocked the trap door at the top free, using the safety bars on the walls of the elevator, Dick climbed up the side and jumped at the trap door. Gripping the edges and pulling himself up to the outside of the elevator.

He retrieved a grappling hook from his belt and aimed it upwards, regretting a slight 'bang' sound as he shot it, the wire extending a few floors up. He pulled himself up the wire to the 7th floor, stopping the elevating mechanism he swung back and forth until he generated enough force to swing him to the slim ledge of the entrance. He repeated the door hacking process, the elevator doors opened… and there she was.

Hawk Girl stood in the hall way, a few yards away from the elevator. She flung her head around at the sound of the door opening, "Hey!" she shouted, thrusting herself forward.

Dick's eyes widened as he quickly reversed the opening door, as it began to close he ripped the drive from the exposed keypad and jumped back at the grappling hook. He started to move upward as his heart raced, he looked down to see Hawk Girl rip the elevator doors open.

"Who are you?! Get back here!" she shouted, spreading her wings open and jumping up at the boy.

He panicked and swung for another entrance, opening the door quickly and turning back to find Shayera floating at his eye level. Her eyes softened, but the boy didn't think twice before reaching in his belt. He threw multiple small spheres at the woman's face, a cloud of smoke appeared, "Get away!" he cried.

Within seconds, Hawk Girl started to fall down the elevator shaft unconscious. Knowing he didn't want to hurt anyone, he shot another cable down and pulled Hawk Girl back up. Attempting to stay calm he pulled her body all the way onto the floor and away from the shaft.

"I'm sorry…" he whispered as he darted around the next corner, unsure of what floor he was on exactly he ran down the hallway. He stopped at a supply closet on the right side of the hall and hid himself inside, "Dumb mistake Dick!" he whispered, pulling out his mini-computer, "ok… where am I?"

Superman stood in the control room with his arms folded, glancing at the computer then at the broken vent on the floor. He glanced up the air shaft with a missing vent piece as Flash appeared by his side. Superman spoke before Flash could say anything, "I think he's traveling by air shaft."

Confusion struck Flash's face, "Are you sure?"

"Think about it. The shafts run all the way through the tower, if he were small enough he could go anywhere in the tower using just the air shafts." Superman explained, unfolding his arms to inspect the air shafts closer.

"He'd have to be pretty small…" Flash pointed out.

"That's what I'm worried about…" Superman stated, he used his X-ray vision to look upward through the other overlapping shafts, "Hawk Girl!" he shouted upon seeing her passed out body a few floors above, "She's hurt!"

"Where!?" Flash interrupted.

"It looks like the 9th floor… she could be…" he turned to finish, but Flash had already zoomed off.

"Hawk Girl!" Flash shouted, appearing at her side. He knelt down to feel her forehead as he spoke, "Come on Angel Face…" he frowned as he looked up, he heard something.

He stood and started to speed from place to place in the halls, bouncing to and from different locations in search of what caused the 'clink.'

Dick sat on his knees in the supply closet with his hand over his mouth, he watched Flash's shadow from under the door, zoom back and forth. He tried not to breathe as he reached for his belt, retrieving yet another set of small spears that he slipped silently under the door.

He flinched at the sound of them going off, half the spears set out a freezing fog, causing a thin layer of ice over the floor. The other half released a cloud of sleeping gas, hopefully the speedster would slip and fall asleep.

'3… 2…' Dick counted in his head, listening to the gas slowly escape from the spears, 'Now!' his eyes flung open, as did the door to the closet as Dick raced out and down the hall.

"Huh?" Flash turned to follow the kid, and… just like the boy had planned, Flash neglected to notice the ice and tried to speed away. Loosing traction, he slipped and fell flat on his face. Dick didn't stay long enough to find out if the gas took effect, he zipped back around the corner in hopes of finding the elevator shaft, but instead… he froze.

Superman stood broad and tall with his arms folded, looking down at the child as he blocked the hallway. The sound of Dick's heartbeat raced through his throat, his breath seemed to have left without him. His eyes projected fear beneath his mask as he slowly reached behind his back, grabbing something from his belt.

The boy tried his best not to make himself appear as afraid, the man of steel said nothing. He just stood, taking into note the child's size and casted arm, and the fact that 2 members of the justice league had been compromised in the whole 10 minutes he'd been here.

He took a step forward, Dick took two steps backwards. Again, Superman took another step and dropped his arms, and his death glare. His voice interrupted the increasing heartbeat in Dick's ears, by this time Dick had been backed against the wall behind them, it started low and soft, "It's ok…" he reached one hand forward slowly.

Dick jumped and darted under Superman's arm, "Get away!" he slid on his knees past Superman's legs, jabbing something into his leg before standing and darting for the elevator.

"AHH!" the man of steel fell to his knees, gripping a shard of Kryptonite lodged in the side of his knee. He couldn't pull it out, it was stuck, Dick stopped at the elevator door, looking down into the long dark shaft. His nerves shook his entire body as he turned back around, he walked slowly back to the man of steel and watched as he fell to the ground.

He made his way over to Superman's side, little did he know, Hawk Girl was starting to wake up. She looked up and saw only the child pulling the shard out of Superman's knee and wrap it up carefully in gauze. She heard him whisper before falling back to sleep, "I'm sorry…" and then he was gone, and she was out.

Dick jumped out into the elevator vent, gripping his grappling hook and sliding back down to the 7th floor. Swinging until he could jump, he repeated the unlocking process and opened the elevator door, a sense of guilt burdened his shoulders.

He pushed to focus on his mission, watching and listening for everything around him, he made his way down the hallway. He saw it, the Med Bay. A rush of hope filled his entire body as he started to sprint around the corner.

"Bruce!" he yelled… too soon.

Tears filled his eyes as he took a few steps forward, he reached his hand out to feel the bed, to make sure it was real. Streams formed over his cheeks as he gripped the sheets with his hand, the empty sheets… Bruce wasn't there.

Hawk Girl woke up a few minutes later, propped up against the wall of the hallway next to Superman, who was still unconscious. She looked up at Flash as he paced back and forth with his arms folded, "Flash… Wha… You're creating a draft." she groaned.

Flash stopped pacing and knelt down in front of Hawk Girl as she managed to lift her head from against the wall, "Hey… easy Angel Face, you were hit with somethin'…"

"Yeah, Nth metal dust." She stated, "Uhg, my head."

"Um… are you sure it was that?" Flash asked, feeling her forehead with his back hand.

She swat his hand away and rubbed her eyes, "My mace is made of the stuff, you think I wouldn't know it when it hit me?" she hissed.

Flash put his hands up in surrender, "Sorry, just… that stuff is the rarest metal, well, ever."

Flash stood and held out his hand to help her up from the wall, "Apparently not rare enough for him." She stated, letting Flash pull her up as she regained her footing, "He threw beads at me, they exploded and… they interfered with my mental state. Then it was dark, how'd he get you?" she asked.

"Classic ice on the floor and sleeping gas. I can't believe I missed it." Flash folded his arms again.

"I can." Hawk Girl smiled.

Flash frowned and continued, refusing to acknowledge the comment, "Who is this guy? How did he manage 3 of us in 15 minutes, maybe more…? You didn't happen to see him did you?" Flash asked desperately.

Hawk Girl didn't answer immediately, she spent a good couple of seconds in thought before speaking, "I wouldn't say he _managed_ us but, I did."

"You did… Ok, did you recognize him? Did he say anything? What did he look like?" Flash asked quickly.

Hawk Girl shook her head and closed her eyes, "I don't…" she paused, then her head lifted suddenly as her eyes flung open, "young." She said.

Flash cocked an eyebrow, "What?"

"Young…" she repeated, looking back at Flash, "he was a boy, a **little** **boy** … 7 or 8 maybe."

Flash's eyes widened, "The Kid." Flash started to pace back and forth again, "This makes sense now… Batman _did_ have a side kick, it's the voice we heard that night. That's the _other_ _matters_ he had to attend to in Gotham before the fight in Metropolis! That's why the kid was able to get through all of us! He's trained by Batman, He's Batboy!" Flash yelled with excitement as he stopped pacing.

"Again with the _managing_ _us_ thing?" Hawk Girl asked in frustration.

"Explains all the tricks he's got, Bats has all the same stuff." Flash pointed out.

"He's here for Batman…" Hawk Girl added, "He's going to be disappointed."

Flash shook his head, "No… I've got an idea. Follow me."

Hawk Girl followed Flash down the hallway towards the stairs, partially in disbelief. On the other hand, she didn't have any other ideas. They made their way to the 8th floor, to the main computer complex on the bridge. Minutes past as Hawk Girl stood behind Flash, occasionally pacing back and forth between glancing at the screen he stood in front of. He crouched over the keyboard as his fingers flew over the keys rapidly, his eyes remained locked on the screen as he typed.

Finally Hawk Girl stopped tapping her foot in impatience, but her arms remained folded as she spoke, "It's been 15 minutes. You sure you know what you're doing?"

"No." Flash shook his head, "I mean yes... Just give me a minute." He suggested.

Hawk Girl cocked an eyebrow, "Mind telling me what your idea is?"

"There!" Flash pulled his hands from the keyboard and Hawk Girl unfolded her arms, "If he's anything like Bats, this ought to work."

By this time, Dick found himself stuck. He didn't know where Bruce was, he didn't know how he was going to get home from there, he didn't have a plan B, all he could do was keep going. He kept crawling through the vents, trying to find some way to stop crying. He suddenly forgot about the blue prints of the tower, he had no idea what to do next. He encountered other league members, but they were different. The thought that the first three encounters were under the purpose of finding Bruce was almost comforting... now, the other members were getting hurt for no reason, the burden was overbearing.

"Uh, testing. Testing… do you think it's on?" Dick flinched at the echo of Flash's voice through the halls, he was on the announcement speakers.

"Just talk!" came Hawk Girl's voice in the background.

"Ok, ok." Flash cleared his throat, "uh, Batboy?" Dick stopped crawling, his heart raced and his breath escaped him as he listened, "Mini-Bats… listen, I don't know what your name is, but I know who you are." Dick pulled out his mini-computer and started typing as Flash continued, "I know you're here for Batman, and I know you're not here to hurt him. I can show you where he is if you just…"

Flash looked up from the microphone at the computer screen in front of him, all he saw was a message. He pulled away from the microphone and read it out loud to Hawk Girl, "What did you do with Batman?" Flash turned back to the microphone, "I moved him. He's a founding member of the league and I thought the intruder was here to hurt him."

A pause in Flash's voice as the words on the screen disappeared, replaced by new ones as Flash covered the microphone with his hand, "I never wanted to hurt anyone." He read out loud, turning back to the microphone as he removed his hand, "I know little man. He's your mentor, I know now you're not here to hurt him. I can take you to him if you tell me where you're at."

Flash looked back at the screen, this time reading the words silently as Hawk Girl did the same. He turned back to the microphone and smiled, "Yeah buddy. I promise."

Minutes passed, no response from the boy. Flash and Hawk Girl stayed at the computer in silence, waiting for something to happen.

"Do you think he heard you?" Hawk Girl asked.

"He's a little Batman, of course he _heard_ me." Flash stated, "The only question is if he _listened_ to me."

"You really think this, _kid_ , is here out of **sympathy** for **Batman**?" Hawk Girl asked.

"I think this kid is worried about his mentor, and I think it would be better if we positioned ourselves as the good guys **before** the kid finds Bats in his condition and assumes us as the ones who put him in that bed." Flash pointed out.

"But we are the good guys." Hawk Girl stated in a form of question.

"Yeah well... he might not think so." Flash suggested.

Flash and Hawk Girl looked at each other before turning the microphone back on, "Uh… you haven't told me where you are buddy…" Flash stated in confusion.

Dick emerged from the shadows near the entrance of the bridge, he watched Flash and Hawk Girl cautiously as he spoke, "I'm right here." He said softly, making them both jump before turning around.

"Hey… how long were you…" Flash started, only to be interrupted.

"I had to make sure you were telling the truth. You're who you said you were, I had to make sure." He said stiffly, trying to imitate Batman's voice, "before you say anything… I'm sorry I did those things, I didn't know Batman was a part-time member of the league before I came."

"Ok…" Hawk Girl questioned, "You know we're who we said we were, how do we know you're telling any form of truth?" she asked suspiciously.

Dick took a deep breath, "His name is Bruce Wayne. If you know Batman as well as you say you do, you should know that's enough." Shock broke both faces of the leaguers as the boy continued, "His file states that joker did something to him…" he paused, feeling his scars through his jacket with his right hand. He prevented tears as best he could before continuing, "Joker did something to me too. I can help him, if I just…"

"Wait…" Flash interrupted, "You mean, you already knew Bats was hurt, and that's why you came? To save him."

Dick nodded, "He's running out of time, if I don't…"

"Ok…" Flash said out loud, "You can help him?" Once again, Dick nodded, "Ok…" Flash said again, "I can take you to Bruce…" he held out his hand, "But you're going to have to trust me."

With great hesitation, Dick inched forward and slowly took the red gloved hand. Flash pulled the boy in his arms and lifted him from the ground, and in a split second, it seemed as if they hadn't moved at all, but a new room built around them.

Flash set the child down on the ground and took his right hand, he led the boy across a dark room with a hospital bed at the end.

"Bruce?" Dick's eyes grew misty as he let go of Flash's hand, he pulled himself up on the bedside and tears started to roll down his cheeks, "Tati…" he reached in his belt and pulled out a small round, disk-like device.

Flash's eyes narrowed as Dick laid it over Bruce's chest, "What's that?" he asked cautiously.

"Joker did the same thing to me, he stopped my heart… This is the same thing that Bruce saved me with." Dick said softly, his voice sounding a lot less like Batman, and more like… a child. He pressed the button in the middle, and it made a loud, piercing charged sound.

For a few seconds, nothing happened.

Then, very suddenly, Bruce's lungs shot back into life. His heartbeat raced as he gasped for breath, his eyes flung open after Flash removed the oxygen machine. Everything happened so fast. Life flooded back into his veins and his color returned, Dick hesitated to believe it at first... Bruce was alive.


	6. The Theory of Truth

Part 6: Scene 1

TAP TAP TAP

Flash sat at the end of the conference table, impatiently tapping his red gloved hand against the metal surface as he glanced around the room.

TAP TAP TAP

His eyes bounced between different members of the league, none of them gave the impression they knew what to do next.

TAP TAP TAP

The silence began to overbear the rapid taps, so they got faster. Flash was one step away from vibrating the metal table with his fingers, he barely grabbed the attention of any members.

TAPTAP TAPTAP TAPTAP – tap.

Then silence.

"Come on!" Flash yelled as he stood, the chair spun around behind him as he continued, "You guys can't be serious, that happened yesterday! Whether you guys want to believe it or not, and Bats is alive because of it!" he exclaimed.

"Doesn't mean any of us have slept since… yesterday was 4 hours ago." Green Lantern mumbled under his breath

"Flash…" came the soft voice of Wonder Woman as she unfolded her arms. She took a few agonizing steps forward to reach her hand towards Flash's shoulder, within a split second he pushed it away.

"No Princess…" he shook his head as his eyebrows scrunched together, he stomped his way over to the door of the conference room, passing Hawk Girl and Green Lantern. He stopped at Superman's side as he remained leaned up against the wall with his arms folded, Flash huffed at him before speaking again, "That kid, _saved_ _Bruce's_ _life_. I'm gonna go thank him, you should too." He hissed.

The man of steel kept his eyes at the ground, they narrowed as Flash walked out of the room. The speedster was gone with the slam of the door, sending a flinch through the tense room before it once again became silent.

"He's right you know…" Hawk Girl spoke up from the far side of the table, "I mean, I didn't get a _good_ look at him, but that wasn't _my_ wrap job." She gestured the bandaging around Superman's right leg, "I don't think he came here to hurt us…"

"Then why did he?" Superman growled.

"Why did he come here, or why did he hurt us?" Green Lantern asked with a cocked eyebrow, "Because, it looks like the kid came here to _save_ _Batman_ , and I don't think he _wanted_ to hurt us either." He pushed himself away from leaning against the table and started to walk towards Superman.

"I am grateful our friend is alive and recovering, but there are many questions that cannot go unanswered." Aquaman added, standing by the far wall with his back turned at the others.

"Perhaps it is time we speak with the boy…" Martian Manhunter suggested from a stiff posture on the opposing side of the room from Green Lantern and Hawk Girl. Diana's eyes paled with concern as her head lowered and she looked away, Martian Manhunter continued with a seriousness clouding his voice, "After all, we owe him our thanks…"

"We don't owe him anything…" Superman hissed, his eyes still weighted to the ground. Aquaman turned from the wall to face the others, his eyes narrowed at the man of steel.

"Clark…" Diana started sympathetically, turning her head back around to the rest of the members.

"He owes us an explanation Diana…" Superman's head shot up from the ground, his eyes full of anger, "And we're going to get one." He barked.

"Batman isn't even awake yet… what are you gonna do, _Interrogate_ the 8 year old?" Hawk Girl folded her arms as she continued, "I think you're just upset the kid got the best of you."

Superman growled and glared at Hawk Girl, "And you're not?" Hawk Girl narrowed her eyes as Superman continued, "Your fine with the fact that a _child_ not only broke into the watch tower, hacked all of our security systems, and took out 8 members of the league within a half an hour; But he also managed to save Batman's life in a matter of _seconds_ after we have tried for _over a week_ to even figure out what was wrong with him."

"That's what this is about?!" Hawk Girl's eyes widened in frustration as her arms unfolded, "You're **mad** at the fact that **the** **kid** saved Batman's life? Are you serious?!" she exclaimed, raising her eyebrows.

Superman's expression didn't change, "Not the fact that he saved Batman's life, but how he saved Batman's life."

"I don't believe this!" Hawk Girl shouted, returning her expression to disappointment and disbelief.

"If this kid is who Flash makes him out to be…" Superman started again in a serious tone.

"Which he is." Hawk Girl stated, interrupting the man of steel.

Superman took a breath of frustration before continuing, "If Batman taught the kid everything he needed to infiltrate the tower, who else would be able to? And what else has Batman been keeping from us?" Superman pointed out, bringing concern amongst the frustration clouding the room.

Suddenly, the expression on most faces of the room had changed. Superman remained suspicious, and Wonder Woman did her best to hide the faint guilt in her eyes, the guilt of secrets.

The remaining members of the league continued to discuss the concerning theory as Flash made his way up to the Med Bay, noticing the amount of leaguers outside the recovery room. Almost every member of the Justice League was crammed into the hallway, if it wasn't surprise on Flash's face, it was anger.

Flash frowned as soon as he stepped out of the elevator, "What? None of you have anything better to do?" he called out to the crowded hallway.

Some faces acknowledged the speedster's shout, others remained in their conversations. Two however, Huntress and Wonder Girl, managed to not only _acknowledge_ the Flash, but gain the impression the matter was up for discussion.

Flash cocked an eyebrow at the sight of the two junior members as they made their way in front of him, they stood side by side as if blocking the walkway. Huntress kept a poker face while Wonder Girl maintained an ear to ear smile.

"Can I help you?" Flash asked impatiently.

"Yes!" Wonder Girl replied eagerly, "Who is he? Where did he come from? Did he actually hack the watch tower? Is that why the alarms went off and the power went out? Did he really save Batman's life? What color are his eyes, did he take off his mask yet? I heard he's just a kid, is that true?" in one breath, the blonde teenager managed to make the speedster feel left behind, probably for the first time. The thought that if she left breaths between paragraphs then he could answer maybe one of the questions, was a tough one to swallow.

Flash's eyes widened and he glanced at Huntress who rolled her eyes at how fast Wonder Girl was talking.

"Do you think he's on our team? If he is, I would totally babysit! He's soooooo cute, he's like… 'that tall'…" Wonder Girl exclaimed enthusiastically, holding her hand flat 4 feet above the ground beside her, "He's like a mini super hero! Isn't he? I heard he could be related to Batman… like his cousin or something. And…"

Huntress took a breath of frustration, "Ok, can it blonde." Huntress interrupted, turning her attention towards Flash, "The kid, we want to know about him." She demanded.

Flash returned his stiff expression as he narrowed his eyes, "Sorry, Can't." he put his hands between the leaguers and nudged them both to the sides, walking past them in a grunt.

"Hey?!" Wonder Girl cried.

"Can't or won't?" Huntress called out. By this time, Flash was halfway down the hallway, but he stopped at the sound of her words.

He didn't turn around, he shook his head and started walking, "Both!" he called back, just before approaching the recovery room doors.

"Wait!" another feminine voice stopped Flash before opening the door. He turned around to find Supergirl standing next to Green Arrow, "Clark doesn't want anyone going in there…" she explained.

"Then why is everyone crowded outside his room? Clark doesn't want this, Clark doesn't want that, none of you seem to be listening…" Flash grunted, turning back around to the door. It slid open and he walked through with anger on his face.

"You can't say I didn't warn you!" Supergirl called into the room just before the door shut. The expression of worry painted her face as she took a deep breath.

"Who peed in his cheerios this morning?" Green Arrow asked, cocking an eyebrow.

Part 6: Scene 2

Flash entered the recovery room rubbing the back of his head, he took a deep breath when he saw the line of empty beds against the wall. He noticed the only occupied bed was the farthest one from the window, he glared at the leaguers who stood behind it as he turned towards Bruce's bed.

He approached it slowly, finding the boy with his mask, jacket, and belt still on, kicking his feet back and forth as he sat in the chair by the bed. He stared at the ground with a blank face as if expecting it to move.

Flash cocked an eyebrow, "You do know they can see you through the window right?" he asked almost sarcastically.

"As Batman's protégé, do you really need to ask if _I know_ when I'm being watched?" Dick replied sarcastically, making Flash chuckle. Dick lifted his head to look at Flash, "Their mad at me. Aren't they…"

Flash sat in the chair next to the boy as he stopped swinging his feet, "Well, you did make their high security super cool space tower full of super heroes look like a training course for amateurs." Flash stated in a joyful tone, making the boy smile a little as he continued, "so, you gonna tell me your name yet?"

Dick shrugged, "We'll do proper introductions later, when I have a name to give you."

"Well." Flash's tone inclined as he stood, he walked in front of the boy and knelt down in front of his chair. At eye level he smiled at the masked child, "Now seems like a good time for proper introductions to me. Hi, I'm…"

"Barry Allen. I know." Dick frowned, unknowing the Flash was trying to lighten his mood, "I know all your names…" he grunted.

"I know you know… This is me telling you because I trust you." Flash stated, removing his cowl and reaching his hand forward, "This is when you shake my hand, and tell me your name…"

Dick shot a mini bat glare at the speedster, leaving several minutes of awkward silence as Barry's hand stayed out in front of the masked boy. Dick narrowed his eyes and attempted a poker face as his tone deepened, "How do I know I can trust you…?"

Barry only smiled, a warming comfort radiated from his eyes as he spoke, "Something tells me, you already do." he stated calmly.

Dick hesitated at first, trying to hide the surprise on his face. Finally, Dick looked in the eyes of the speedster and saw, truth. He took Barry's hand and spoke softly, "Grayson… Dick Grayson."

"Nice to officially meet you, Mr. Grayson." Barry continued with a light enthusiasm as he shook the boy's hand. Their hands parted and Barry stood as the expression of confusion made its way through Dick's mask.

"Why do you trust me? None of the others trust me, do they?" Dick asked with a saddening tone.

Flash took a deep breath and closed his eyes, "I trust the person who saved my friend's life, and… that tells me you're a pretty trust-worthy person…" His eyes opened again, revealing confidence in his words, "… the others will see that eventually. Right now they're just stumped because someone played with all their toys without asking first." He finished sarcastically, setting himself back down in the chair next Dick.

The boy closed his eyes and turned his head away, "I didn't mean to hurt anyone." He stated in a quiet voice, trying to stop tears from escaping his eyes.

"I know buddy…" Flash put his right arm around the boy and lowered his head, "Luckily, nobody got hurt…"

Dick sniffled and wiped his nose with his right sleeve, "I just… I needed to find Bruce."

"Dick…" Flash spoke softly, as if he already knew the story, "You said Batman was your mentor, but… I think there's more to the story than that. Am I wrong?"

In a brief moment of silence Dick gathered his thoughts, he took a deep breath before standing and walking around Bruce's bed. He pulled himself up on the plastic sheets and sat by Bruce's legs, facing away from the scarlet speedster as he started to swing his feet back and forth again.

"4 months ago, my parents were taken from me…" he started quietly, gradually making his voice clearer as he went on, "Two weeks after that, I found out who Batman was, and Bruce Wayne adopted me…" The speedster stood from the chair in shock as the story continued, "… he started training me and teaching me things, but he wouldn't let me go with him when he went away, you know, as Batman… He said his work wasn't safe for me, but I didn't believe him. I snuck on his car one night when he was going after Joker, and… Joker got me." He gulped.

"The warehouse…" Barry attempted to form words, but his thoughts escaped him and the boy continued.

"He hurt me, and…" Memories of the Joker began to intrude on Dick's thoughts as he tried to continue, "He stopped my heart with something, and, I kept thinking it was probably supposed to happen. I thought I was supposed to die with my parents that night, until Bruce saved my life with this stupid thing…" he reached back in his belt and pulled out the disk like device. He held it in his hand as it rest on his lap, "At first it haunted me, every time I saw it I would see his face, and… for a while I wouldn't remember who he was, only that he had knives, with my blood on them. But when I did remember…" He paused and tried to regroup his thoughts, without leaving enough time for Barry to say something. He clenched his eyes shut and tried not to think about his memories as he continued, "I spent a couple weeks in the hospital before Bruce had to leave again, he said he had to help a friend with something, and that he might be a few days later than what he expected. He left before I could tell him, before I remembered I wanted to tell him. But, when he didn't come back…" Dick sniffled again and rubbed his eyes with his knuckles, "I just… I, I thought the Joker had gotten him too. And all I could think about was how stupid it was for me to think that way, and that I might never get the chance to tell him I was sorry."

Dick looked over his right shoulder at Bruce, streams formed under his mask and rolled down his cheeks. He tried to hide it, but the speedster saw the pain in the boy's words. Barry walked around the bed, slowly approaching the small boy as he whimpered.

"Dick…" he started slowly, reaching his hand towards the boy's shoulder in attempt to comfort him, "You have nothing to be sorry about…"

As soon as he felt the man's hand on his shoulder, his head whipped around and tears started streaming down his face. He ripped off his mask and threw it at the ground in anger, he began yelling as if he needed to further plead his case, "I wanted to die, Barry! For a long time I wanted to! But then I didn't, and I couldn't tell him how much I wanted to stay alive, with him! He was gone for weeks, I didn't know where he was or what happened to him, I had to find him! "

Before even the Flash could blink an eye, he found himself cradling the small boy in his arms, but he didn't seem phased. The unbelievable reaction of the speedster was that of a parent, he wasn't surprised or caught off guard. As if he knew exactly what to do, he just held the boy as he sobbed.

"I had to… to find Bruce! I, I… Just had to!" Dick latched his arm around Barry's left bicep, gripping his suit fabric tightly as he clenched his fists.

"I know buddy… and it's ok." Barry stated softly, rubbing the boy's back with his hand gently.

He struggled to control his breath and heart rate as he kept his head buried in Barry's chest, "I wasn't thinking clearly, I'm sorry I came here, I'm sorry I attacked you, I'm sorry I…"

"I'm not." Barry interrupted, continuing before confusion could be brought to the boy's face, "We had no idea what Joker injected Bats with… We didn't know how to help him, but you did. If you hadn't come here when you did, Bruce might not be here either." He stated strongly, nesting the boy's head gently with his hand, "So this is 'Thank You', Dick… and I can guarantee Mr. stubborn-butt over here feels the same way, even if he's not the best at showing it." He finished sarcastically.

Dick calmed his breath with a whiff of relief, he closed his eyes as he spoke with a quiet voice, "I never wanted anyone to get hurt…" Dick repeated in guilt.

"Hey, hey…" Barry lifted Dick's head and wiped trickled tears from his cheeks, "We're a lot tougher than you make us out to be… You couldn't hurt us, even if you wanted to. So stop taking credit for the impossible." He stated with a warm smile on his face, he grew a light grin on his face as he continued, "Boy Scout will get over himself, I promise…"

Dick hugged the red suited man again, snuggling tightly into his chest as a soft lift from tears came over his face, "Thanks Barry."

"Yeah…" Barry rubbed the boy's back with his hand again, "Anytime buddy."

Part 6: Scene 3

"His story checks out." Flash stated boldly, dropping a folder on the metal table. He grabbed the attention of every founding member of the league with the echo of his voice in the conference room, "Everything he said to me; here it is **in** **detail**." Flash pointed at the file and backed away from the table.

"What'd you do to him to get a confession?" Hawk Girl spoke up from Green Lantern's side, by the table with her arms folded and a look of disbelief straddled her face.

"I asked him… Nicely." Flash snapped back, putting his hands on his hips as he continued in a snide tone, "you should try it sometime…"

Hawk Girl frowned and mumbled something under her breath, steam seemed to have whistled from her ears as Superman narrowed his eyes, inspecting the file on the table suspiciously, taking him only seconds to flip through the loose pages, "What if this is just a cover story?"

"Way ahead of ya…" Flash interrupted with a somewhat joyful tone, placing another paper on the table, "I got a DNA sample, and it's a match."

"How'd you get a DNA sample?" Green Lantern asked curiously from the other end of the room, leaning over the table as he cocked an eyebrow.

Flash pinched the fabric over his chest and lifted it slightly in display, his joyful tone vanished into disappointment and sadness, "His tears are all over my uniform…" he released the fabric and lowered his hand, "And, there's a picture of him in a Haley's circus flyer."

Superman pulled a rainbow picture from the file, cocking an eyebrow as Flash continued, "He said his parents were taken from him 4 months ago, around the time Haley's circus lost one of its most famous acts known as 'The Flying Graysons' – The family of acrobats. Two adults and a child, named Richard." Superman inspected the picture of the two adults and young child swinging from a trapeze in the sky space of a big-top, "Circus' records state his parents were killed in a horrible accident, and he was taken into custody of the state late last September." Flash added as his eyes drifted down and to the side.

"This doesn't prove anything Flash. Any of this could have been staged." the man of steel held up the picture in disbelief as he turned his body towards the speedster.

Flash frowned and reached over Superman's shoulder to pull out more pages from the file, he put a newspaper article and a medical report on top of the pile as he backed away again, "He's the same kid from the night the warehouse exploded, if that wasn't obvious. Turns out, Joker did the same thing to Bats as he did to Dick, that's how he knew how to help Bruce. This kid spent weeks in the hospital recovering from everything the Joker did to him, hence, the cast on his left arm _**and**_ Batman's sudden disappearance from the league for such long periods at a time." Flash folded his arms and smirked as if he'd already won the argument.

"This **is** the same boy from the warehouse Clark, I would know." Wonder Woman grabbed the picture from Superman's hand and pointed at the child, "I flew him to the hospital, remember?" she added, placing the picture back on the table next to the open folder.

"Who's to say Bats was away for so long training the kid, he could have been fighting him." Green Lantern suggested from Hawk Girl's side. Wonder Woman glared at him before anyone could agree.

"He broke into the tower, he hacked our security systems, and he found and studied personal files on all of us. We don't know if he's telling the truth about where he got any of this information… How do you know it wasn't faked, or this wasn't planned before he came here?" Superman asked suspiciously.

"You think this _kid_ is somehow an _enemy_ of Batman that magically got into the bat computer _without_ Bats knowing, who managed to make his own replica of Batman's utility belt and match his style of combat, who _also_ saved Bruce's life?" Flash implied sarcastically with his eyebrows raised, his impression changed not long after no response from the man of steel, "You have got to be joking… You're not joking, are you…" Flash took a deep breath of frustration as his hands dropped to his sides.

"I'm not saying he's an enemy, I'm saying he might not be completely honest…" Superman pointed out, the look of confusion placed itself over every face in the room. The man of steel looked directly at Flash as he shot his next suggestion, "This isn't the first time some over-obsessed 'fan' of Batman's made a more than unwelcome introduction to the league."

"Superman makes a valid argument." Aquaman added from the same place by the wall, with his back turned to the table, "After all, he managed to 'magically' get in here without any of us knowing…"

"And if he had access to all files on the Justice League and the watch tower, why did he assume us to be the enemy?" Martian Manhunter added in suspicion.

"Some things aren't adding up Flash…" Hawk Girl added, "I don't think he wanted to hurt anyone either, but there's some holes in you theory. Fan boy makes sense…" She suggested with a dim voice.

"You know what?" Flash blurted out in frustration, "Did anybody miss the part where he **saved** **Batman's** **life?!** " Flash looked around the room for anyone to disagree, "No? Ok then, why are you all so determined to make him the bad guy? Everything he did was to get to Bats so he could save him, all things considered, I think he did pretty good!" Flash shouted in argument.

"We're exploring all the possibilities Flash…" Superman barked back, turning his head to glare at the speedster, "It's not about making him the bad guy, it's about making sure he's not one."

"You want more proof, _fine_." Flash zoomed out of the conference room and returned with a whip of wind blowing in every direction. He placed 3 more papers on the table as he returned to the side and folded his arms, "This is a copy of Richard Grayson's birth certificate, son of John and Mary Grayson on March 20th 1996; This is the legal document signed by Bruce Wayne, stating that Bruce Wayne became the Legal Guardian of Richard Grayson; And this is the adoptive certificate with both Bruce Wayne, and Richard Grayson's name in print and signature, dated October 6th 2005…"

Lantern and Hawk Girl squinted over the table as Superman read them, "I don't believe it…" Hawk Girl mumbled in shock.

"Batman. Has. A kid." Lantern repeated, attempting to swallow the thought as a blank look appeared on both of their faces.

"Yup, three and a half months ago, Bats adopted this kid. I think that's enough proof he's not the bad guy." Flash argued, bringing new thought to the rest of the room, "Think about it guys… Dick said Bats was training him, didn't everything he did last night seem even remotely similar to what Bats would have done in the same situation?" He stated in a calmer tone that resembled understanding.

He looked around the room in hope of finding anything but the lonely feeling of silence, several long minutes passed before any movement was allowed in the room.

"It _would_ explain how he got a hold of Nth metal dust…" Hawk Girl stated slowly. Flash nodded his head in exaggerated agreement, waiting for someone else to talk.

"… And why he went straight to the play of invisibility…" Green Lantern added, somewhat degrading the style of the shadows.

"Yeah." Flash assured with confidence, "he's not the bad guy here…"

"You do realize…" Superman interrupted with a stiff voice, folding his arms as he spoke, "If you're right, that means that Batman lied to us. Which begs the question, what else did he lie about?"

Flash took a deep breath and closed his eyes, giving more than enough time for the other members to do the same. When he looked back up at their faces, they were full of consideration on the thought.

"Wait a minute…" Flash spoke up in disbelief, "You don't _really_ think Bats is… No."

"Flash…" Diana tried to intervene, only to be shot down.

"No! He lied to us sure, but about a kid. A kid that he probably didn't want to get involved in all of this, he was trying to protect him!" Flash insisted.

"He taught that kid to infiltrate the tower and get by every one of us, exposing him to a power greater than any of us combined." Superman explained in a convincing voice.

"Bats didn't want involvement between the league and his kid! That's something I understand." Flash argued undoubtedly.

"Your nephew didn't hack into the watchtower and…" the man of steel started to bark.

Flash turned towards Superman and his voice deepened as he interrupted, "Wally doesn't live in Gotham, his parents weren't killed before I adopted him, and he's not my crime-fighting partner. But if I was stuck up here in a hospital bed with the entire league that had no idea how to stop me from dying, I would want him to do whatever it took to get to me and save my life if he were the only one that knew how." Flash stated confidently, turning towards the rest of the members as his tone lightened, "C'mon guys… you know Bats thinks of everything, don't you think he would teach his protégé to do the same?"

Yet again, another long period of silence pierced the ears of every leaguer in the conference room.

"I guess it is time to find out…" Martian Manhunter spoke up from the opposing side of the room, his eyes glowed as he spoke, "Batman is awake."

Part 6: Scene 4

"Hey you." Green Arrow greeted Black Canary and Supergirl at the window, holding two coffee cups he handed one to Canary and kissed her cheek.

"Hey yourself… Thank you." She took the coffee and smiled back as he stood beside her.

Supergirl glanced over and raised an eyebrow, "And where's mine?" she asked sarcastically.

Green Arrow's face went pale and he took a few steps away from the window, "I, will go get you one." He assured.

Supergirl held up her hands in surrender, "I was totally kidding." She chuckled.

"Right…" color fled back into Green Arrow's face as he walked back over to stand next to Canary at the window, "I knew that…" he mumbled, "Did I miss anything?"

"In what, the whole five minutes you were gone?" Supergirl implied, turning her head towards Black Canary, who was downing her coffee. She took a deep breath and looked back through the window, "Nope… They're still behind the curtain, all of them. Hey, what time is it?" she asked.

"Almost 6:00am, they've been in there for almost an hour." Canary answered, taking another attempt at chugging the caffeine.

"Wow… must be serious if it takes that long." Green Arrow added, looking through the window at the curtain pulled around the farthest bed. He cocked an eyebrow as he opened his mouth, "Do you think the kid really saved Batman's life?"

"That's what we've been hearing." Supergirl implied, "I've heard the kid is somehow related to Batman."

"Wouldn't surprise me. That would explain how he even got in here." Canary added.

"The Zeta tubes?" Arrow asked, "They're the only way in and out of this place… aside from, spaceship that is." he pointed out.

"Yes, but, they're host sensitive, and they're controlled by J'onn." Supergirl narrowed her eyes as she continued, "Unless he has his own spaceship, and key to the loading dock…"

"Again…" Canary interrupted, "If he were related to Batman, _wouldn't surprise me_."

Green Arrow opened his mouth to argue, but closed it and thought for a second, "I guess that does make sense…" he stated nodding to himself as he watched the curtain occasionally move in the distance, the voices of the league members were barely muffled through the glass.

Though the words where unclear, it had sounded briefly like Batman had explained mostly everything. In between sudden abrupt differences in voices, shouts, and periods of awkward silence, the leaguers outside the window had no idea what went on inside the recovery room. Only the faint impression that someone was mad, and someone else wasn't.

"See? I told you this theory made more sense." Flash pointed out, "Batman has a side-kick, I totally called that!" he exclaimed in excitement, fist pumping the air in front of him as he stood by Bruce's bed.

"Did not!" came the little disagreeing shout from the masked boy on Bruce's lap as he lay propped up against the wall.

"Did too!" Flash put his hands on his hips as he continued the silly argument.

"Did not!" Dick shouted a little louder.

"Hey, I defended you!" Flash pointed at the masked boy and grew a light smirk in sarcasm.

"Quit it!" Hawk Girl shouted, "You're both 8 year olds." She stated trying to calm her voice.

"Actually…" Flash corrected, "He's almost 10."

Hawk Girl raised an eyebrow, "What does that make you?"

"Hey…" Flash wined.

Dick put his hand over his mouth and his cheeks turned light pink, "Oooooooo." He pointed at Flash teasingly, "You got in trouble by Shayera."

"What?!" Flash folded his arms, "Did not!" he exclaimed.

"Did too!" Dick argued.

"Did not!" Flash shouted.

"Stop it!" came the intruding yell of the man of steel.

Flash kept his arms folded as he turned his back at the boy playfully, making him giggle quietly before whispering, "… and Clark…" the boy mocked.

Flash unfolded his arms as he spun around and stuck his tongue out at Dick, the boy returned the gesture and curled his lips back in attempt to bite back a laugh.

Flash glanced over at Superman who was standing directly across from Bruce's bed with his arms folded, he immediately sucked his tongue back in his mouth and stood up straight. Noticing Hawk Girl and Green Lantern who stood on the left side of Superman and shared his posture, Flash realized they were waiting for him to talk.

He cleared his throat and shuffled his thoughts back together, "Um, right… yes, back to, the very important business of, Batman's side-kick."

The leaguers turned their thinning attention back to Bruce as Dick scrunched his nose at Flash, Flash returned the gesture without paying much attention to conversation and making silly faces at the boy.

"He's not my side-kick." Bruce claimed from the plastic sheeted bed, a certain stiffness in his voice that mocked his recent recovery.

"We've been over this…" Hawk Girl stated impatiently, "Have we decided on a plan, or not?"

"So far…" Green Lantern suggested, "Stop me if I'm wrong, we share the part where he is Batman's protégé, but not his kid. And that he's helping Batman, but not the league… Is that what we thought of?" his eyes darted from member to member around the room in uncertainty.

"I disagree." Aquaman stated from the corner of the room, "the hesitation of truth is the cause for this mess, the hesitation of truth isn't the solution." He pointed out.

"I have to agree with Aquaman." Martian Manhunter complied, "The truth is a fare route."

"It's not that simple." Bruce argued, "Not everyone out there knows my identity, for good reason. But anyone out there could easily connect the dots between Batman and Dick Grayson, and all of our identities could get loose."

"Which could lead to further trouble…" Diana added.

"Which **will** lead to **disaster**." Bruce rephrased.

"Ok, so wait…" Green Lantern spoke up, "What exactly are we supposed to tell the rest of our team?"

"We'll tell them what they need to know." Superman stated in a serious tone, "we'll…"

Not even a split second of thought was allowed before another distracting interruption of Dick's sudden burst of laughter caught everyone's attention. The heads in the room turned to Flash, who conveniently held his hands behind his back with the shade of guilt plastered to his face, visible even through his cowl.

Dick held his right hand over his mouth in attempt to stop laughing, his expression dropped stone cold as soon as he looked up at Bruce's face of disapproval. His eyes darted down and his hand lowered along with his head, leaving Flash for the blame.

"Are you done?" Green Lantern asked impatiently.

Flash immediately bailed and pointed at the boy, "He started it!" Flash shouted in his defense.

Dick's head shot up and his eyes narrowed, "Did not!" he shouted.

"Did too!" Flash argued.

"Did not!" Dick continued.

Lantern raked his face with his hand and groaned, "We are never gonna get through this, are we?" he complained in frustration as the two continued to argue in the back ground.

"Did too!"

"Did not!"

"Did too!"

"Did not!"

"Did too!"

"Did not!"

Their voices began to sound the same after a few seconds of saying the same thing over and over, until finally, the arguing was put to a stop.

"Alright ENOUGH!" Bruce yelled, "Now I don't care **who** started it, but I'M GOING TO **END** **IT!** "

Green Lantern nodded his head in satisfaction at the sight of both 8 year olds silenced and sitting down, as Flash had retreated to the chair next to the bed.

"That's parenting 101 right there." Green Lantern pointed out, being impressed by Batman's actions.

"Wow…" Wonder Woman added, "Who knew Batman could handle small children."

"Oh, I wasn't talking about the _small_ kid." Green Lantern implied, bringing a light smile to Shayera's eyes.

Flash on the other hand simply folded his arms in a childish pout, making Dick smile once again in amusement.

Bruce took a deep breath and rubbed the bridge of his nose, leaving a gap of silence in the loud conversation. He spoke before his eyes lifted, catching most leaguers off guard, "He'll need a name." Bruce stated, lifting his head to Superman who in turn nodded.

"I thought the whole side-kick idea was a no-go." Flash interrupted in confusion.

"It was." Bruce clarified impatiently, "If we're not giving his real name, we have to call him something."

"Batboy!" Flash stood and planted two thumbs in the air with excitement.

"No." Bruce grunted and Dick shook his head disapprovingly.

"What about Mini-Bats?" he bargained enthusiastically.

"I'm not calling him that." Bruce grunted again, intensifying his glair.

Dick looked down at the 'R' sewn into his jacket, he suddenly remembered his mother telling him he reminded her of a little robin. He swallowed a lump in his throat and looked up at Bruce with curious eyes.

He spoke quietly, with a soft voice almost too quiet to hear, "What about Robin…"


	7. Aftershock

Part 7: Scene 1

Dick sat in the chair next to Bruce's bed, propping his chin on the arm rest as he leaned away from the bed. A small gap between the curtain and the wall allowed sight to the rest of the recovery room. His eyes wondered the rest of the motionless room, and he repeatedly counted the empty beds that led to the window at the end. He swung his feet back and forth above the ground as he looked at the window, still, no one was at the other side, no leaguers.

He knew where they went, they were all in the bridge listening to an almost complete explanation from the founding members, but that's not the thought that bugged him. He could feel the bat glair melt the back of his head, it's been there ever since the rest of the league left the room, a whole five minutes. His thoughts were jumbled and scattered, his impatience was made more than clear through the rest of the room even despite his efforts against it.

He took a deep breath and closed his eyes, trying to rid his mind of his frazzled thoughts.

"Robin…" he heard from behind him.

His eyes flung open and his muscles tensed, he tried to hide it with his voice. Replying at almost an interruption, "What?" his feet stopped swinging and he sat still.

"What's wro…" Bruce started with a soft tone.

"Nothing." The boy grunted in a non-convincing attempt, "I'm fine." He replied, refusing to turn his head around.

"No, I don't think you are…" Bruce stated, stiffening his voice a little.

"You're on anesthetic. Doesn't matter what you think…" Dick snapped, "The only reason you think you care is 'cause you can't think clearly right now…" he clarified angrily, "I'm…"

"You're not fine." Bruce growled, interrupting the boy's statement.

"Shouldn't I be? You'd be fine if I was you." His voice inclined, almost as if afraid of his words, "But I'm not you, and you're not me… That doesn't mean I'm not OK, just because you're OK now..."

Unsure of what to do next, Bruce and Dick left a long piercing gap of silence before movement was allowed to creep through the room. Dick stood from the chair, keeping his right arm down, he looked down at his other casted arm.

"I know…" Bruce broke the silence in a low tone, bringing the boy's eyes up from his arm, "I never expected you to be me." He said.

"Then what did you expect?" Dick frowned as he turned to stare down the bedded man, "That I would be just as helpless as you make me out to be? Or that I would listen to every pitiful lie Alfred told me under your order?" the boy's tone darkened and a tension made its way through his voice.

"Robin… I…" Bruce narrowed his eyes and opened his mouth, but he was interrupted by a much disrupted shout.

"I'm sorry OK!" his fist tightened and he stomped his foot, he tried to stiffen his face to block his need to cry, "Is that what you want from me?! I didn't listen to you, and bad things happened!" his eyes softened, but he turned his back towards Bruce in attempt to hide his expression, "I hacked the computer in the cave and came here **after** you said not to, and bad things happened!"

"What bad things?" Bruce interrupted in curiosity, his eyes narrowed further.

Dick closed his eyes and turned his head away, sending yet another cloud of silence to block all motion and sound. On multiple occasions, Bruce made various attempts to open his mouth to speak, without success the two stood in complete stillness for a number of minutes.

"Dick… what happened?" Bruce repeated, only to be unsuccessful in receiving an accurate response.

"You know what happened…" the boy growled.

They would have stayed in this state for hours if the silence had not been broken by the one and only Scarlet Speedster, and his annoyingly positive taint on the room gone foggy with blocked emotion.

Flash's arrival in the room was made brief and to a shock, with a whip of air and a whoosh of the curtain, there stood the Flash. Although neither member already present in the room had even flinched at the almost sudden appearance of the speedster, both seemed to take a disliking to his use of sarcasm.

"OK." Flash started almost impatiently, failing to notice the tone of the situation he sped into, "Mini-Bats on in five." He stated enthusiastically, placing his left hand on the boy's left shoulder as he stood facing the wall.

Bruce looked up at Flash with an irritated growl, causing the speedster to raise his hands in surrender, "Robin… I mean Robin." He pointed towards the window on the other side of the closed curtain, "They're ready for him." He lowered his hands and awaited further response from either characters, both were non-responsive for several seconds.

"Fine." Bruce grunted from the bed, turning his attention back down to the boy who still refused to look back up at Bruce's eyes, "You know what to say?" he asked in a serious tone.

Dick turned to walk past Flash in a stomp, "Yeah, yeah. I'm just your side-kick… **Not** _your_ _son_." He grunted as he plowed through the curtain separating view between Bruce's bed and the window. He stopped a few steps on the other side and stood still, "I'm _just_ Robin." He said out loud, making sure Bruce would hear it.

Bruce closed his eyes at the sound of the boy's angry footsteps that seemed to have lasted hours until they reached the door at the far side of the room, and with the close of the door, the speedster spoke.

"Did I _miss_ something?" he cocked an eyebrow at Bruce as his voice still showed enthusiasm in his confusion, "He seemed fine when we left."

Bruce opened his eyes and glared up at Flash with impatience, "I contacted Alfred a few minutes ago and informed him of the situation. After Robin is done here he is to zeta directly to the manor, no stalls. Two minutes." He stated, returning to the well-known impression of 'Batman'.

"Wow. That makes for a short 'Welcome to the Team' party, his curfew is gonna cost him cake." Flash stated sarcastically.

"We discussed this." Bruce reminded him in a grunt, "I don't want him involved with the League."

"I know." Flash stated as he slowly brought his tone to a serious level, "I don't want my nephew involved with it either."

"I thought your nephew knew about your line of work." Bruce added impatiently.

"He knows about me and the League…" Flash stated as he sat down in the chair next to Bruce's bed, "but he's not 'involved' with the superhero business. There **is** a difference Bruce." Bruce's glare intensified, prompting Flash to change his tone and speak again, "Want some advice?"

"Advice from _you_?" Bruce grunted.

Ignoring the comment, Flash took a deep breath and went on, "Talk to him." The unchanged expression on Bruce's face made Flash explain further, "You remember when I said I wasn't like you, and I needed to know what was going on before I could sleep at night because you're Batman and I'm not?"

"This doesn't sound like advice Allen." Bruce interrupted.

"Just listen…" Flash insisted. Before giving Bruce time to argue, he went on, "Maybe this isn't an 'everyday thing' to him either. And maybe he's not as much of a mini-bats after all… He _is_ just a kid."

"Your point?" Bruce growled.

"Stop acting like this kind of thing happens all the time." Flash demanded, his voice sounding more serious than it's ever been, "I mean, you might be used to this life-style of staring death in the face no matter what you do, but that doesn't mean he is… So talk to him about it. He needs his father."

"I'm not his father." Bruce interrupted, shooting his eyes up from Flash as he glared at other wall.

"In the technical eyes of the Batman, maybe…" Flash implied as he stood from the chair, "But in the eyes of the kid that you took in four months ago, that statement seems a bit faulty. And I think Bruce Wayne might feel the same way… when he's _not_ Batman."

Bruce narrowed his eyes as he turned his head back at Flash, deepening his voice, "1 minute, 48 seconds." He growled.

Flash smiled and reached for the curtain, "same ol' Bats." He stated before zooming away. Another whip of air, a whoosh of the curtain, and Flash was gone. Leaving Bruce alone with his thoughts.

'Maybe, _for_ _once_ , Allen could be right…'

Part 7: Scene 2

A flash of light and there it was, the Bat Cave. Alfred was there too, he waited at the railing of the computer deck for Dick to get back. When he finally did, Dick couldn't tell if Alfred was angry or just disappointed. But he was most certainly, under the circumstances, unhappy.

Alfred didn't even flinch at the sudden appearance of the small boy in the cave, his tone stayed the same. Not even his eyebrows moved as he spoke, "Evening, Master Dick."

The boy stood a few feet from the computer deck with his head down, he turned his eyes away from the old man and didn't say anything. He just listened.

"I see you've made a few adjustments concerning your attire. Taking an interest in Master Bruce's 'evening activities', I presume." Alfred implied with a sarcastic shun.

Dick took of his mask as he looked up at Alfred, "Bruce is awake. But, you probably 'presumed' that too. Didn't you?"

"Pardon me?" Alfred questioned, turning to watch the boy stomp across the cave.

Dick started again with a harsher tone as he turned to walk towards the stairs, "Just like you knew where he was, and what happened to him… and how long he had left. So you should know that I saved his life a few hours ago… no thanks to you." He stated before arriving at the bottom of the stairs, Alfred had just started to follow him in attempt to keep up.

"Master Dick, What _exactly_ are you…" Alfred had stopped at the bottom of the stairs as he looked up at the boy, who had managed to make it hallway up already.

"You're welcome." Dick mumbled over his shoulder, interrupting Alfred as he continued up the stairs. Alfred had said something else, but Dick didn't hear him. By the time he had stopped he had already made his way up the second set of stairs and into his room. Where he locked himself inside and found himself at the floor of the door, cradling his head in his knees as his arms wrapped around his legs.

He wasn't crying, he wasn't trying not to cry… he was just, _breathing_. For a while, all he could think about was the sound of his own breath. He remembered what his parents' breath sounded like, when he was little he would get nightmares. And he would crawl in their bed in the middle of night after waking up, and he would just lay beside them both and listen to them breathing. Everything was peaceful, and there was nothing to be afraid of anymore. All they had to do was breathe, and everything was better.

A gentle knock on the door brought the boy out of his thoughts, a gentle voice pulled him back in.

"Are you alright Master Dick?" Alfred asked quietly from the other side of the locked door. At first, there was no answer. So Alfred spoke again, "Master Dick…"

Dick pulled the domino mask out of his right pocket and held it in one hand. He scrunched his eyebrows together in confusion, not knowing if he should be angry or sad or proud, "I… I don't know Alfred. I mean, Bruce is OK now, he's alive… I should be happy now, but I'm not. And I don't know why, I don't know what to do Alfred… Tell me what to do." he sounded as if ready to cry, but no tears came from his eyes. He waited for what seemed as forever in a second for anything to happen, then Alfred spoke again.

"You may start by opening the door." Alfred suggested in a calm voice.

Dick closed his eyes and took a deep breath before standing, "OK." He said out loud. He turned around and opened the door slowly to find a warm smile on Alfred's face. He stepped away from the door and watched Alfred walk from the doorway to sit on the bed, he placed his hand on the covers next to him as he looked up at the boy.

"Come…" Alfred started, waiting until Dick sat down on the bed to continue, "Tell me what happened."

"I thought you knew what happened?" Dick's expression turned to confusion as he sat down on the bed.

"I know only what Master Bruce spoke of, and in my experience, that is more often than not, half the story." Alfred replied. The confusion left Dick's eyes as Alfred continued, "So tell me, Master Dick, what happened?"

"Well…" Dick started slowly, unsure of where exactly to start he looked down, "Last night, after you went to sleep, I hacked the computer in the cave. I wanted to know what happened to Bruce, and, after I remembered what happened to me… I just, I had to do _something_ to make sure he was OK."

A pause in the story prompted Alfred to speak again, "Go on." He suggested softly.

Dick took a deep breath before opening his mouth again, "I found the Watch Tower, and the teleportation device, along with records and files of the Tower's 'crew'. The Justice League… I had never heard about them before, I mean, my Tati said he thought he saw Flash once, but I didn't believe him. I thought they were just stories… There wasn't any record, or even mention, of Batman's membership with the League. So, when I found him in the Medical Bay of the Watch Tower, I thought… I don't know, maybe he was a prisoner there."

"Why would Batman be held prisoner?" Alfred asked.

"Batman **protects** Gotham. But he does it **alone** , and on **his own** terms. Not everyone agrees with his methods and he has a lot of enemies, so I thought… they might have _done_ _something_ to him." Dick suggested, slowly running out of thoughts and words, "I had to get him out of there, I had to get him home. I went into the tower thinking the League was the enemy, so I attacked them… and some of them got hurt. But then they weren't the enemy any more, and I found Bruce. I recognized his symptoms, they were the same as mine before I got to the hospital. So I figured the Joker really _did_ get Bruce this time, and, that's when I remembered what Bruce used on me."

"And that was?" Alfred asked again, scrambling Dick's thoughts.

"I'm not sure exactly, but, it worked…" Dick replied, his eyes slowly drooping, "He didn't wake up for another 6 hours, but his heart was jumpstarted and he didn't need help breathing anymore after that. He was getting better." Dick paused with his mouth halfway open, as if about to say something else, but no words came out. So he closed his mouth.

"Then what happened?" Alfred asked once again, hoping to continue the Boy's story.

"Then…" Dick started, then stopped, and tried to start again. But a different series of words rolled off his lips unintentionally, "I was so scared Alfred… for so long, I was just scared. I didn't know what to do. And then he woke up, and, it was like… nothing had changed. And, at first I was happy he was OK… then the others left and when it was just me and Bruce, I wasn't happy anymore." A tear finally began to slowly carve its way down Dick's cheek, "Why wasn't I happy?" he whispered to himself.

Alfred tried to speak as he put his arm around the small boy, but he was interrupted by Dick's out loud train of thought, "I mean, He's not my father. He's not even related to me, I met him after my _real_ parents were killed. I shouldn't be upset or happy or angry or satisfied with any of this! I don't know what to think Alfred! I don't know why I'm upset or angry or, or…" Dick tried to go on, but by now he had buried his face in Alfred's arms, unable to speak through his sobs.

"Master Dick. Let me tell you a story." Alfred suggested with a surprisingly calm tone.

Dick looked up at the old man, not knowing what else to do, he listened.

"Once, there was a boy." Alfred started, taking a deep breath, "And his family. Just the three of them, mother, father, son… happy. But then, something terrible happened. And at a very young age, the boy's parents, left. Upon being left alone, this boy had no idea what to do next. Days, weeks, even months went by before he finally realized something…"

"I don't need you to tell me my life story Alfred." Dick hissed, narrowing his eyebrows.

"Did I ever say this boy's name was Richard?" Alfred asked, "What about Grayson, or Dick perhaps…"

The boy thought for a second, bringing a confused frown to his face. He stayed in his thoughts for more than a few moments before opening his voice with a different tone, "What did the boy realize?" he asked quietly.

Alfred simply smiled, "That even though, everything had been taken from him, his entire world upside down and inside out in so many ways… the world went on." Alfred paused, letting enough silence into the room to pull tears from Dick's eyes before continuing. His tone inclined to the enthusiastic part of the story, "One day, it was as if he had woken up from… a bad dream. He accepted the tragedy which burdened him so, and went on with his life to accomplish great things. One of which, was seeing himself in another young man, and taking him in."

Dick's eyes shot up, "Bruce? He was Bruce?"

"When he was a boy, he didn't have anyone else... for a long while, he didn't have anyone else. He convinced himself of many things, one being that loneliness and despair was only a fair part of life. Until he met you." Alfred stated with confidence.

"Me?" Dick asked in disbelief.

Alfred nodded, "I had this discussion with Master Bruce shortly after taking you into this household. With as stubborn as he is, he does hold a place for you in his heart. And although it will never fill the void left by your…" Alfred cleared his throat before highlighting Dick's exact words, " _real_ parents… he has given you a chance at something for the both of you to have again." Another pause as Alfred's tone deepened again, "Love."

Dick sniffled, "What do I do?" he shut his eyes tight, as if afraid of what Alfred might say in response, "What do I do Alfred…" he repeated.

"Talk to him." Alfred suggested.

"He doesn't listen…" Dick shrugged, keeping his eyes closed.

"Well then…" Alfred smiled, "When Master Bruce is particularly hard-headed, you may do as I have in the past to get his attention."

"What was that?" Dick opened his eyes with curiosity.

"This is not something I suggest on a daily basis, but given the circumstances…" Alfred paused again to straighten his back, "Yell at him." He smiled.

Part 7: Scene 3

"Ok, I know I said I'd believe it when I saw it…" Green Arrow stated from his place at the table in the cafeteria of the Tower, "But I even met the kid, and I still don't believe it." He leaned back in his chair and folded his arms.

"What's not to believe?" Black Canary ask from across the table, cocking an eyebrow as she took another drink of her coffee.

Green Arrow frowned and started counting the reasons on his fingers, "Little kid breaks into the Watch Tower in the middle of the night and hacks all our systems, never-mind how he even got here as it's not like the Tower is in space or anything." He mocked sarcastically, "He manages to make extremely clear his knowledge of everything about the place and everyone in it, never-mind how he got that information as it's not like we're the Justice League or anything. And then, after getting our asses handed to us by an 8 year old, we are expected to believe that Batman, who, might I add, has never shown a compassionate bone in his body, has decided to wake up one day and take on a protégé."

He paused, letting her stare him down unimpressed by his argument, "Gee. What's not to believe? I don't believe any of it." He grunted, raising his hands behind his head to lean back more comfortably.

"I do." She raised an eyebrow, her face growing deadly serious, "Why else would Batman have disappeared from the League for so long?"

Green Arrow frowned, "I don't think we're getting the whole story here. Batman and a protégé, Come on." He grunted, turning his head to look away. The sound of a small giggle brought his attention back to her, "What's so funny?"

"I think you might just be upset because the Big Bad Batman got a side-kick before you did…" she stated in amusement.

His eyes shot wide and he sat upright, folding his arms again, "What? That has nothing to do with this." He insisted.

She lost her light smile and her tone got serious, "I know you've been thinking about Roy lately."

"Yeah, well…" he unfolded his arms and mumbled out more words in attempt to end the discussion, "That's different." He grunted.

Black Canary was only able to shoot a look of disbelief across the table before being interrupted by the unexpected visitor stomping through the cafeteria. Many heads turned to see the small child with a domino mask march through the cafeteria of the Watch Tower, almost unsurprised at the sudden reappearance of the boy as he was the topic of most conversations among the league. Only the sound of his angry footsteps echoed through the cafeteria as all conversing had stopped, and all eyes landed on him.

He didn't care, unlike the last time he came to the tower, his mission this time didn't involve the rest of the league. And as far as he was concerned, the rest of the league was no concern of his. He stomped on.

Upon reaching the other side of the cafeteria and disappearing behind the doors, the conversing had started again, in a much more violent matter.

Green Arrow turned his head back around to Black Canary, "See? My side-kick wouldn't do that. Roy isn't 6…" he murmured.

"You mean 9." Canary corrected, "Robin is 9. Roy is only…"

"I know how old he is…" Green Arrow cut her off, "That's he's not my side-kick. Who makes a crime fighter out of a kid?"

"Batman." Canary answered, almost confidently.

"Yeah." Green Arrow nodded, "That's what I'm worried about."

Dick marched down the hallway as fast as he could, half anticipating the reaction of his arrival, half wanting to turn around and go home.

Home. That's what he came here for, home.

The thought jumbled his expression until he reached the set of double doors at the end of the hall, he didn't stop to give himself time to doubt, he just plowed through.

The expression of surprise on the faces of the founding members gave the impression he'd interrupted something important. He had quickly taken note of them sitting around the round table, and Bruce at the far end, no longer in a hospital bed or gown.

"Batman!" he shouted, fighting tears. When only the Bat-glair was given in response, the boy continued, "We have to talk." He demanded.

The heads in the room turned to Batman, now in full uniform, "Robin." He barked, "Not now." He growled.

"Yes now!" the boy shouted, bringing the attention back to him, "I have to talk to you about…"

"Robin…" Batman didn't change his expression as he scolded, "Go home. Wait for me to…"

"This can't wait!" Robin protested, stomping his foot.

"Leave, now." Batman demanded.

"NO." Robin insisted. Most mouths in the room dropped at the very idea of someone telling Batman 'no', especially a child. Batman stood from his chair at the far side of the room, but the boy didn't allow enough time for him to protest, "I am going to talk to you, and you are going to listen to what I have to say!"

"This is uncalled for." Superman interrupted.

"Agreed." Batman added, still glairing down across the table, "Robin is leaving." He stated.

"No. I'm not." Robin matched Batman's tone almost exactly, " _We_ are." He stated.

Batman growled harshly in disbelief, "Robin, you are disrupting an important…" he would have continued to scold, but he was cut off.

"DISRUPTING?!" the boy shouted, throwing his one arm in the air and clenching his fingers in curls, "YOU WANT TO TALK TO ME ABOUT DISRUPTING?!"

A long piercing moment of silence had passed before anyone had dared to speak, finally Batman broke the silence, "Excuse me." he muttered and began making his way slowly around the large round table towards the exit, "Two minutes."

Dick's breath had increased dramatically along with the thumping inside his chest, his stomach turned to knots as the Dark Knight walked past him and plowed through the doors. Without knowledge of anything else to do, the boy followed.

Batman stopped just outside the doors in the hallway and waited for Robin, he stayed facing away from the boy. As soon as the doors closed Batman spoke, his voice rough and impatient, "Robin… there had better be a good reason for…" again, he was cut off.

"Good reason!?" he shouted, "Other than the fact that you almost DIED!?"

"Robin…" Batman breathed impatiently.

"I was a flying Grayson! The only child of John and Mary Grayson, and member of Haley's circus since birth. I had a family, they loved me, and I loved them!" Dick yelled as if Bruce didn't already know this.

"Robin…" Batman said softly, trying to grab the boy's attention as he went on.

"4 months ago, I lost my life! They died! Haley's circus left! Everything was different! Everything I had was gone! My identity had been taken from me!" he shouted, steam coming from his ears.

"Robin…" Batman tried again, still turned away from the boy as he continued his tantrum.

"And then came you!" his voice began to soften as Batman could almost hear Dick's attempt to fight tears. He didn't say anything in response, he didn't know what he could say at this point, he just listened.

"You ruined everything! My name wasn't Grayson anymore, it was Wayne. And I wasn't an acrobat, I was Robin… and… you were…" he paused as he tried to gather his words, the whole speech that he'd practiced suddenly vanished and he didn't know what to say anymore, "And, and, and… I was OK with that. But, you are not my… and it's not like I thought of you as…" he looked down and closed his eyes, the tears were coming now, "I should _hate_ you." He growled, trying to hide the sadness in his voice.

Batman took a deep breath and turned around, "But you don't…" somewhat between a question and a statement was what came from Batman's mouth as he stared down at the boy who refused to look up at him.

"I thought _they_ were being replaced… I should _hate_ you so much… But I don't." he murmured, opening his eyes to turn them away as he frowned. Tears streaming down his face made his mask sticky and slippery on his cheeks.

"Richard." Batman said softly.

"What…" he shot his eyes up and his voice started to crack.

"Come here." Batman ordered in a low tone.

Dick stayed still, narrowing his eyes in confusion as he tried to read Batman's position, "what did I...?"

"Now Dick." Batman interrupted firmly.

Dick's eyes fell back to the floor as he crossed the few feet between him and Batman, he didn't have to look up to see that Batman was now kneeling on the ground, Dick guessed his eyes would be the same height as Batman's.

"Look at me." Batman ordered again, this time bringing his hands up to grip the boy's shoulders. Firmly, but soft at the same time.

Dick's eyes slowly trailed upwards, making their destination at Batman's eyes. To his surprise, the cowl was off, his eyes were so deep, and serious, and almost too intense to look at. Dick almost flinched before letting shaky words fall from his lips, "You gonna yell at me…" he implied, planting a frown on his face in anticipation.

"No." Bruce said quietly.

Dick said nothing, a mix between shock and disbelief clouded his thoughts before everything in his mind went blank. Once again, he didn't know what to do.

"You're gonna talk to me, and I'm going to listen." Bruce finished.

Before anything else could be said, a flood of tears rushed down Dick's face and he ripped off his mask. He didn't know what else to do except dive into Bruce's arms and just stay there.

Bruce took a deep breath, almost flinching at the reaction he got from Dick, now curled up in his arms, sobbing. Now it was Bruce's turn to have no idea what to do next, so he waited. Several minutes passed before the boy lifted his head slowly to reveal his glossed-over blue sapphire eyes, a light smile of an almost appreciation on his face.

"Thank you…" Dick whispered, clutching the uniform over Bruce's chest and shoulders for life.

Bruce swallowed, "I love you… you know that right?" his voice still firm and serious, but Dick could tell he meant it. He buried his face back into the man's chest and sniffled, his only response was simple…

"I love you too…" he paused slightly before smiling, "Tati…"


	8. Same Ol' Bats

"I'm just saying it's been two months." Flash stated as he shrugged his shoulders and lifted his hands in gesture. He leaned up against the dark oak wood desk in the large office of the Wayne Manor. He glanced over his shoulder at Bruce Wayne, who seemed preoccupied with the papers on his desk.

"And you think Dick needs counseling." Bruce grunted and shuffled his papers, without looking up at Barry Allen.

"Not counseling." Allen corrected, "A friend. There **is** a difference." He folded his arms.

"And you think your nephew can be that." Bruce grunted again, almost insulting the casually dressed man in his office without making eye contact.

Allen stood up straight from leaning against the desk and lifted his arms, starting in a sarcastic tone almost too joyful for the Wayne Manor, "what's with all this 'I think' stuff? I know this is gonna work." He stated confidently then turned his head away to mumble under his breath, "but counseling probably wouldn't hurt…"

Bruce's attention was shot up from his desk to glair at Barry Allen as he turned his head back around, "Explain to me again, what you're doing here." he growled, a typical Batman voice, but a bit unexpected as to what Bruce Wayne might sound like.

Allen smiled enthusiastically and gestured Bruce, then himself with his hands, "I came to talk to you about your son and my nephew." He stated happily.

"That's what I'm afraid of." Bruce murmured and went back to shuffling his papers.

Allen's expression went sour almost instantly, "come on… just one meet, it'll be fun." He declared and spread his arms wide at his sides, "They could be like, buddies."

"No." Bruce grunted again, almost interrupting Allen as he didn't stop to even consider his proposal.

Allen's arms dropped, "What? No? Just like that?" he complained.

"You said so yourself." Bruce lifted his head to frown at the speedster, "Our line of work is dangerous, I don't want him getting attached to the idea of being involved with the league, even remotely." He stated confidently, as if the decision had already been made.

"But Wally isn't a part of the league." Allen argued in a failed attempt to convince Bruce of his idea.

"No…" Bruce agreed smugly, "He's just the nephew of one of the founding members." He pointed out

"Hey." Allen protested, only to be cut off.

"That's how Dick will see it." Bruce stated, lowering his head back to his desk, "He'll see Wally through the Justice League, I don't want that."

Allen folded his arms in a pout, "How do you know he'll look at it like that?" he whined.

"I trained him, remember." Bruce pointed out, bringing a curl to his lips in a sense of pride. Allen scrunched up his nose in attempt to come up with a response, he was proven unsuccessful when Bruce spoke again, "… and if Wally West behaves in any way identical to you around Dick…" that got Allen's attention.

"It's called being friendly." Allen snapped, keeping his arms folded and stiffening his face.

"It's called being ridiculous." Bruce shot back, losing the slight smile on his face, "He's 10, not 2."

"So treat him as such." Allen replied, pausing Bruce's next statement before his sentence started. Now it was Bruce's turn to think of a response, but not nearly as much time was granted between statements as Allen continued. He unfolded his arms and his tone grew sympathetic, "He needs someone his own age to talk to, I just thought it would have been nice to have someone 'inside the loop'. Someone we could trust…" He suggested, turning his entire body towards the desk.

Allen and Wayne stared at each other for a long moment as neither knew what to say next, Allen opened his mouth to continue but nearly jumped out of his skin in surprise.

"Hi Allen." Came the little voice behind the speedster. After regaining control of his breath he turned around to see Dick in the doorway.

"Kid! I didn't hear you come in, you scared me…" Allen breathed, letting a smile crawl over his face.

Dick plopped his backpack on the floor in the doorway along with his coat, "I know." He said bringing a slight smile in the sense of accomplishment to his face. He walked passed Allen and folded his arms over the desk, propping his chin up at Bruce.

"You're home early." Bruce acknowledged stiffly.

"mmhmm." Dick nodded, glancing at Barry Allen as he spoke, "Early release at school today, you invited a friend over…" he smiled. He knew what this was about.

"How was school?" Bruce cut off, noticing the boy's interest in Allen's presence.

"Good…" Dick replied, looking back at Bruce.

"How's your arm?" Bruce asked.

"Good…" Dick continued with an expression of boredom, "Feels better without the cast."

"I'm glad." Bruce almost smiled at that statement.

Dick curled his lips back in attempt to bit back a smile, "Hey Bruce…"

"Yes?" Bruce replied hesitantly.

"Can I start training again?" Dick asked hopefully.

"No." Bruce stiffened, "Not until your arm is fully recovered." He reminded impatiently.

Dick huffed and pouted for a second, then brought his eyes up and bit back a smile, "What would you say if I wanted to bring a bunch of kids home from school?" He cocked his eyebrow, trying to mimic Alfred.

"No." Bruce answered stiffly.

"What would you say if I asked to have a sleep over?" Dick asked in the same tone.

"No." Bruce answered again.

"What if I wanted to play with some kids after school one day?" Dick persuaded, keeping a straight face.

No answer from Bruce this time, he'd picked up on what Dick was doing. A smirk grew on Dick's face as he straightened up from the desk, "Ok." He said and turned towards Barry.

"Wait, what?" Allen started in absolute confusion, turning his head back and forth between the boy and the man he'd been trying to convince for a half an hour.

"I'd like to meet Wally West now, if that's ok." Dick put his hands on his hips, unable to lose his smile.

"No." Bruce interrupted, frowning at the boy in disapproval, "Dick, this is a discussion for another time." He stated boldly.

"It looks like it's happening right now." Dick replied sarcastically, "Why else would _he_ be here, you two aren't exactly _Buddies_."

"He has a good point." Allen agreed, "multiple good points actually… wait, did he just…?" Allen began as he started to figure out what Dick managed to do.

"No. He didn't." Bruce grunted in denial.

"Please Bruce…" Dick begged, gripping the edge of the desk with his fingers and batting his eyes as his smile almost disappeared.

Bruce looked back down at his papers and moved them to the side, he huffed as he clasped his hands together on the dark wood surface. His eyes skipped over the boy and looked directly at the confused Barry Allen, "Central City, not here. Public place, no suspicions." He demanded almost cold heartedly, "The adoption's only been Public for 12 days, so I don't want the press all over this."

Dick lifted from the desk and jumped up in the air, "Yes!" he exclaimed.

"Wait… What just…?" Allen cocked his head to the side and rubbed the back of his neck, "Sooo, does that mean yes?" he asked hesitantly.

"… And I want someone responsible there as well. I'm not sending him 2 hours away without another adult." Bruce continued in his stiff-like tone.

"That means yes doesn't it…" Allen stated out loud as he just started to catch on. Matching Dick's excitement he fist-pumped the air enthusiastically, but his expression went back to pure confusion after a few seconds, "Wait… Won't you be going?" he asked.

"Nope." Dick answered for Bruce, "If he leaves, the press follows. It's a part of being Gotham's most eligible bachelor, he has to stay." Dick clarified, bringing his excitement down.

"Oh… well, I guess that makes sense." Allen Blurted in understanding.

Bruce rolled his eyes back down to Dick, who was again trying to bite back his smile, "Are you sure you want to meet another one of him?" Bruce teased, surprisingly playfully.

"Hey!" Allen folded his arms again, being distracted by the comment he didn't take note of the sarcasm in Bruce's tone, "You have no place to talk, it's creepy enough with only _one_ Bat-like-ninja sneaking up behind you all the time." He stated.

Dick nodded and let his excitement get the best of him, ignoring Allen's comment, "Yup. It'll be fun." He declared with a calmer voice. His smile expressed the kind of happiness that made Bruce's heart melt, although he would never admit it.

Bruce sighed as he kept looking at the boy's eyes, letting a light smile slip over his face, "Don't give me that face." He ordered.

"What face?" Dick asked rhetorically, knowing exactly what Bruce was talking about.

Bruce nodded at him, "that one, right there. Where you do that thing with your eyes and mouth…"

Dick chuckled and walked around the desk, "It's called a happy face…" he specified, making his way around the desk to the same side as Bruce. Before Bruce could protest, Dick continued, "Thanks Bruce."

"You're welcome…" Bruce stood from his chair and turned to look at Barry Allen over the desk, huffing before speaking, "Date and time?"

"Umm, Tomorrow?" Allen replied hesitantly.

Bruce stayed stiff in his response, "No. School day." He turned his head to look at Dick, then back up at the speedster, "How about this Saturday. I'm holding a banquet I'm sure he'd love to skip out on…"

"I'm up for that plan!" Dick added and shot his hand straight up.

Bruce turned his head again, preventing the smile on his face, he nodded at the backpack and the coat on the floor in the doorway, "That doesn't go there." He said, gesturing the doorway.

Dick smirked and wrapped his arms around Bruce's waist, just as quickly pulling away, "I know…" he said, still unable to help his smirk as he turned and dashed for the door. Snatching up his coat and his backpack as he disappeared behind the door and down the hall.

Bruce sat back down and leaned back in his chair, staring off into space as a light smile grew on his face.

"Awww…" Allen blurted, noticing the look on Bruce's face, "Bats has got a soft spot…" he teased.

Bruce's face immediately went dark and he shot an intense bat-glair at the speedster, "If _anything_ happens to him…" he growled.

Allen raised his hands in surrender and shook his head, "Hey, parental promise, remember?" he lowered his hands and lost his smile, "aaaaaand he's back…" he stated, "… Same ol' Bats…"


End file.
